Bengal: Buddhadeb, MLAs to take oath on May 16

Kolkata, May 15: West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi today invited Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to head the new government in the state and form a new Council of Ministers.

The newly elected Legislators would take oath in the House tomorrow.

The Governor's invitation came after Mr Bhattacharjee met him at the Rajbhavan with a letter from Left Front Committee Chairman Biman Basu conveying that he (Mr Bhattacharjee) was elected the leader of the Left Front Legislators for the 14th state Assembly.

Mr Bhattacharjee also submitted his resignation to the Governor as part of the formal procedure towards formation of the seventh Left Front Government following completion of the elections to the state Assembly and the Election Commission's notification constituting the newly elected House.

The Governor accepted Mr Bhattacharjee's resignation and requested him to continue until alternative arrangements were made.

Mr Bhattacharjee told the Governor that he would submit the names of the new Council of Ministers on May 17 afternoon. Following this, the Governor would issue a notification appointing the Council of Ministers to be sworn in on May 18.

Meanwhile, preparations were in full swing in the state Assembly to administer the oath to all the 293 newly-elected MLAs in the House tomorrow.

According to highly placed sources in the state Assembly, all the new Legislators have been requested to produce their election certificates, issued by the respective returning officers in their constituencies after the counting on May eleven.

As the election to the Bhatpara seat was countermanded on May 22 following the death of a candidate and will be held tomorrow, the winner of this seat will be administered oath on a later date.

UNI