New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that she has come up with a decision to not attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister on Thursday, while refuting the claims by BJP about the killing of 54 of their workers during the political violence in West Bengal.

This comes after she had confirmed her presence at the ceremony, on Tuesday. She flipped her decision after going through media reports about claims of death of 54 party workers alleged by the BJP, she stated.

"Congratulations, new Prime Minister, Narendra Modiji. It was my plan to accept the "constitutional invitation" and attend the oath taking ceremony” Mamata said in a statement.

“However, in last one hour I am seeing media reports that the BJP are claiming 54 people have been murdered in political violence in Bengal. This is completely untrue. There have been no political murders in Bengal. These deaths may have occurred due to personal enemity, family quarrels and other disputes, nothing related to politics. There is no such record with us," she said in a tweet.

"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," she wrote on Twitter.


The just concluded Lok Sabha polls witnessed a heated verbal duel between Modi and Banerjee who spearheaded the campaigns of their parties in West Bengal.

(with PTI inputs)