Congress president Rahul Gandhi to attend PM Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be attending the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which is scheduled to be held tomorrow at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Along with Rahul Gandhi, UPA chairperson and senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister on Thursday.

The report came hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday decided not to attend the swearing-in ceremony, citing 'untrue" claims by the BJP that 54 of the party workers were murdered in political violence in Bengal.

On Tuesday, Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said they will attend the oath-taking ceremony. “I have spoken to other chief ministers also. Since it is a ceremonial programme, we thought of attending it. Yes, I will go,” Banerjee had said.

"Congratulations, new Prime Minister, Narendra Modiji. It was my plan to accept the "constitutional invitation" and attend the oath taking ceremony. However, in last one year, I am seeing media reports that the BJP are claiming 54 people have been murdered in political violence in Bengal. This is completely untrue. There have been no political murders in Bengal. These deaths may have occurred due to personal enemity, family quarrels and other disputes, nothing related to politics. There is no such record with us," Banerjee said in a tweet on Wednesday.

"So I am sorry, Narendra Modi ji, this has compelled me not to attend the ceremony. The ceremony is an august occasion to celebrate democracy, not one that should be devalued by any political party which uses it as an opportunity to score political points. Please excuse me," she wrote on Twitter.