A day after stating that she would come to Delhi to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in at Rashtrapati Bhavan, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday did a U-turn and said she would not be attending the ceremony. Banerjee said she had planned to accept the "ceremonial invitation" but following gross misrepresentation of facts about 54 deaths in poll violence, she decided to skip the oath-taking ceremony to be held on Thursday. On Wednesday, the BJP announced that they would take the families of those allegedly murdered in political violence in Bengal to Delhi to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
About the violence, she stated in her tweet that there has been "no political murders in Bengal". There might have been deaths due to personal enmity, family quarrel and other disputes, she said. "But nothing related to politics. There is no such recors with us," she added. She said:
“These deaths may have occurred due to personal enmity, family quarrels and other disputes; nothing related to politics. There is no such record with us. So, I am sorry, Narendra Modi ji, this has compelled me not to attend the ceremony.
“The ceremony is an august occasion to celebrate democracy, not one that should be devalued by any political party which uses it as an opportunity to score political points. Please excuse me.”