Mamata may attend Badal, Akhilesh's swearing-in ceremonies

Kolkata, Mar 10: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, whose party is an UPA ally but has made common cause with non-Congress Chief Ministers on some issues, is likely to attend the oath-taking ceremonies of Parkash Singh Badal and Akhilesh Yadav as chief ministers of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

"I will try to attend the swearing-in ceremonies" of Badal and Yadav, Mamata, West Bengal Chief Minister, told PTI in an SMS response. While Badal had telephoned Mamata yesterday inviting her to attend his swearing in ceremony on March 14, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had spoken to her on phone a couple of days ago extending the invite to attend the oath-taking in Lucknow on March 15.

If Mamata makes it to Badal's oath-taking, she may end up sharing the dais with leaders and Chief Ministers of BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), of which Akali Dal is a part.

PTI