Mamata's swearing-in ceremony in open at Raj Bhavan

Kolkata, May 19 (ANI): All preparation have been made for perhaps the most crowded oath-taking ceremony, with over 3,000 people have been invited to attend the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee's swearing in ceremony as West Bengal Chief Minister on Friday.

Banerjee will take oath of office as the first women Chief Minister of the State at 1:01 p.m by Governor M K Narayanan.

The ceremony will take place in the open space at the Raj Bhavan. Shortly after taking the oath, Banerjee and other ministers will go to the state secretariat, Writers' Buildings to formally take charge.

State Governor. M. K. Narayanan and the Kolkata Police Commissioner Ranjit Kumar Panchnanda took stock of the preparations of the ceremony.

The guests have been divided into three segments and their entry routes to Raj Bhawan defined accordingly.

Along with Banerjee, Union ministers, the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court and a few relatives of Mamata will be allowed through the south- west gate.

Two assistant commissioner-ranked officers will supervise security arrangements at every gate.

Giant screens will be installed at 40 different places in the city, including the Metro Channel, Sahid Minar, Shyam Bazar and Hazra Crossing so that people can watch the live telecast of the swearing-in ceremony.

Crowds are expected at these places as well and steps have been taken to avoid any untoward incident. Movement of vehicles might be stopped as and when necessary

Former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Left Front Chairman Biman Bose, leaders of different political parties, industrialists, high officials of the Defence Services and Police have been invited to the function.

Meanwhile, Congress President Sonia Gandhi is likely to skip the swearing-in ceremony.

Congress sources said Defence Minister AK Antony and Home Minister P Chidambaram are likely to represent the Congress party at the function.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Congress Working Committee member in-charge of West Bengal Shakeel Ahmed will also be present on the occasion.

Soon after her landslide victory, Banerjee had called on Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to invite them to the swearing-in ceremony.

Dr Manmohan Singh had expressed his inability to attend the function in view of a foreign tour.

The Trinamool Congress on Monday formally staked the claim to form the next government in West Bengal shortly after Banerjee was unanimously elected Leader of the Trinamool Congress Legislature Party (TCLP).

The TMC-Congress combine had won 227 seats out of 294 in the legislative assembly, while the ruling Left Front, led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), only garnered 62 seats.

The TMC is the biggest coalition ally of Congress and holds the balance of power in Parliament. Analysis feel that her victory may force the government to be more dependent on an unpredictable parliamentary partner opposed to several key economic reforms. (ANI)