Keshari Nath Tripathi on Thursday was sworn in as the new Governor of Bengal replacing MK Narayayan. State acting Chief Justice Asim Kumar Banerjee administered the oath of office to the 79-year-old former UP Assembly Speaker in the presence of Chief Minsiter Mamata Banerjee, State Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee, and senior Union Minsiters including Partha Chattopadhyay.
Tripathi who had earlier praised the Bengal CM for her simple ways, said after her swearing-in that the Mamata was “competent enough to deal with the State matters”. He added, “I will work for the welfare of the State and coordinate with the Centre” adding “we will solve the matters discussing it mutually.
The BJP was represented in the ceremony by party's observer for Bengal Siddharthnath Singh and State party president Rahul Sinha the Congress and the left MlAs were conspicuous by their absence.
Tripathi who arrived in Kolkata on Wednesday had a narrow escape after the pilot engine running ahead of the Rajdhani Express in which he was travelling in got derailed when the suspected Maoists blasted of portions of the tracks between Mughalsarai and Gaya. The premium train was derailed by about six hours. Ar Howrah Station Tripathi was givenguard of honour before being received by State Ministers Amit Mitra and Partha Chatterjee.
Though there was no official comment from any side, left and theCongress sources said they were not invited by the State Government in the occassion.