Mamata Banerjee elected Trinamool legislature party leader

Kolkata, May 16: In an expected development Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee was on May 15 unanimously elected as the leader of the Trinamool Congress legislature party in the West Bengal Assembly at a meeting of the party's newly elected MLAs.

Mamata or Didi as she is fondly referred to by her supporters, led her party to a historic and mammoth victory in the recently concluded Assembly elections.

Talking to reporters, an ecstatic Mamata said, “The CPM has been taught a lesson. The people have ultimately given them a solid thrashing. I am grateful to the people of West Bengal."

In her finest hour, she didn't fail to remember those killed in political violence and in her first meeting with the 184 elected MLAs said, “In the midst of the happiness I am constantly remembering those people, those families who have been wiped off due to atrocities of the CPM. I will not be in peace till the time they get justice."

Informing that her cabinet will be a smaller one but nevertheless will be an inclusive one and said, “We will form a very small Cabinet and we will declare the names of the ministers a few days later. We have to see to it that there is representation of every section — Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, women and minorities in the Cabinet."

Partha Chatterjee was elected the deputy leader of the Trinamool Congress legislature party while Sovandev Chattopadhyay will be its chief whip and Jyotipriyo Mullick the treasurer.

After the meeting, her party member Mukul Roy went to Raj Bhavan to officially intimate Governor M K Narayanan about the outcome of the MLAs" meeting.

Meanwhile, the newly elected Congress MLAs too held meeting chaired by Pranab Mukherjee, the Union Finance minister and submitted a letter to the West Bengal governor informing about the party's support to the new government to be formed under Mamata Banerjee.

Later in the night, both Mamata Banerjee and Pranab Mukherjee left for Delhi where the Trinamool chief is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. She will officially invite the Congress to join the new government in West Bengal.

OneIndia News