Mamata Banerjee not to attend swearing-in ceremonies of Parkash Singh Badal, Akhilesh Yadav

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress today said the party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided not to attend the swearing-in ceremonies of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh chief ministers.

"I just spoke to Mamatadi. She was keen to make the trip to Chandigarh and Lucknow but now she will be in West Bengal on the opening day of the Assembly for the Governor's address," Trinamool Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Derek O' Brien told reporters here.

Mamata was invited to the swearing-in ceremonies of Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Brien also posted the information on social networking site Twitter.

He declined to comment on Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi's caution against Banerjee not to cross the "laxman rekha (boundary line)" of "coalition dharma" by attending the two swearing-in ceremonies.

The Congress spokesman told reporters in Delhi, "Social interactions with strangers by those in partnerships is permissible but obviously if things go beyond the normal boundaries of social courtesy, it would become immoral."