West Bengal gets its first woman chief minister

Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee was Friday sworn in as West Bengal's first woman chief minister, ending 34 years of uninterrupted Left rule in the state.

More than 3,000 invited guests watched as a beaming Banerjee, clad in her trademark white sari and rubber slippers, was administered the oath of office by Governor M.K. Narayanan at the Raj Bhavan here. 

The Trinamool Congress chief, 56, who becomes the eighth chief minister of the state, took her oath in Bengali.

Amongst those present to witness the historic occasion were union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, former state chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Left Front chairman Biman Bose and other top leaders of the opposition combine. 

Crowds lined both sides of the road as her convoy set out from her Kalighat residence in south Kolkata to the Raj Bhavan seven kilometres away. Frenzied slogans like "Mamata Banerjee zindabad" could be heard.