Firebrand Indian politician Mamata Banerjee was sworn in Friday as chief minister of India's West Bengal state after she ended 34 years of communist rule in a historic election victory last week. Banerjee, 56, took the oath of office after voters in the impoverished eastern state turfed out the world's longest-serving democratically-elected Marxist government.
Thousands of people lined the streets shouting, "We are with you didi (sister)" as Banerjee, who heads the regional Trinamool Congress, arrived at the sprawling governor's residence in state capital Kolkata to be sworn in. Banerjee, a populist who casts herself as a champion of the poor, rode a wave of popular discontent to defeat the communists over their handling of the economy, which left industry in decline and the state neck-deep in debt.
The diminutive Banerjee, who is a key ally of the national ruling Congress party, became the first woman to hold the job of West Bengal's chief minister. She took the oath in Bengali, the language of West Bengal, a state of 90 million people. Thirty-six ministers were also sworn in.
"West Bengal has been liberated," she said last week after her Trinamool Congress and allies grabbed 226 of the legislature's 294 seats, leaving just 62 for the Marxists. "This is the victory of the people against years of oppression," she said. Outgoing communist chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was present at the ceremony. Banerjee, known for her plain lifestyle and mercurial nature, resigned from her job as national railways minister late on Thursday to take up her new responsibilities.
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