Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister, and Trinamool Congress chairperson, has opted not to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Karnataka CM-designate Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Saturday. Instead, she has chosen to delegate the responsibility to a parliamentarian from her party, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who will represent her at the event. The Congress party, after securing 135 out of 244 seats in the recent Karnataka assembly elections, extended invitations to several Opposition leaders for Siddaramaiah's ceremony. This move is seen as an attempt to unite the opposition forces against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Banerjee's decision to send a representative indicates a calculated approach, reflecting her willingness to engage with Congress within a larger framework of opposition unity while refraining from committing to a Congress-led alliance.