Mamata Banerjee will hold her first Cabinet meeting at Writers’ today at 4 pm

Didi invites Buddha

Seeking to reach out to arch rival CPM,Trinamool Congress on Thursday invited outgoing chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for the swearing-in ceremony of the new government. Senior Trinamool leader and Leader of Opposition in the previous Assembly,Partha Chatterjee,met Bhattacharjee at his Palm Avenue residence and invited him for Friday’s ceremony. Chatterjee invited both Bhattacharjee and his wife Meera Bhattacharjee to the inauguration of the new council of ministers. The visit to Bhattacharjee’s residence was the first by any Trinamool leader since the party came into being in 1998. Chatterjee said,“We will do our work showing due courtesy to all.” A senior Left Front leader and RSP central committee member Manoj Bhattacharjee said,“I appreciate the goodwill gesture,but I feel this is not enough. This humility should also be present in the party’s grassroots level.” The RSP leader observed development programmes could be best implemented if ‘disturbances in civil society’ were taken care of. Though it is not clear whether the outgoing CM will attend the function,a small delegation of the Left Front led by former health minister Surya Kanta Mishra is most likely to be present.

Dada in the list too

Others who have been invited to the ceremony are litterateurs Sunil Gangopadhyay and Mahasweta Devi,cricketer Sourav Ganguly and filmmakers Mrinal Sen and Aparna Sen.

Giant screens dot city

Trinamool has put up giant screens at various places in the city,including Metro Channel,Hazra crossing and Shyambazar crossing to beam the oath taking ceremony live.

Do you have the passes?

A mad rush was seen both at Writers’ Buildings and Raj Bhavan on Thursday for getting the passes for the oath-taking ceremony. Even close relatives of the newly elected MLAs and minister-designates have been clamouring for the invites.