Was Mamata Banerjee enraged over traffic fiasco on way to HD Kumaraswamy's swearing-in?
Bengaluru, May 24 (IBNS): In the middle of a grand celebration of the opposition unity in Bengaluru on Wednesday, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee was reportedly not looking all happy at the swearing-in ceremony of Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy as the Karnataka Chief Minister, according to media reports.
Reports said she was angry with the traffic management and had to walk a distance. She was also missing from the symbolic picture of the day in which all opposition leaders cutting across differences were sharing the dias in a grand show of anti-BJP unity.
The West Bengal Chief Minister is a virulent critic of the BJP and the Modi government with the saffron party emerging as the main opposition in her state.
In a video, Banerjee was seen complaining to former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and his son Kumaraswamy. One report said she lodged a complaint with Karnataka Director General of Police (DGP) Neelamani Raju.
She was heard saying some words, which were caught on microphone, with a sense of anger.
In a video which was shared by Republic TV, Banerjee was heard saying something about Congress president Rahul Gandhi and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Sonia Gandhi but the audio was not clear to draw a conclusion.
Kumaraswamy was standing with folded hands in front of the West Bengal Chief Minister, apparently to calm her down.
Image: screenshot grab/Republic TVThough not confirmed by IBNS, some media reports suggest that Banerjee was angry upon Bengaluru police after she was asked to get down the car and walk towards the Vidhan Soudha due to huge traffic.
Bengaluru in recent years has earned notoriety for its traffic congestion and resultant delays in commuting.
Banerjee was present along with several anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders at the swearing-in ceremony, which virtually turned into a get-together of all disparate opposition forces likely to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the saffron outfit in the 2019 General Election.
Apart from Banerjee, Sonia and Rahul, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telegu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar were present at the oath-taking ceremony.
The Congress and the JD(S) together formed the coalition government in the southern state.
Image: screenshot grab/Republic TV
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