Updated on Sunday, May 13, 2007, 00:00 IST

Lucknow, May 13: IT was BSP's blue flags all the way at the sprawling Raj Bhavan lawns here when party chief Mayawati was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Uttar Pradesh Governor T V Rajeswar this afternoon with BJP leaders skipping the function.

Clad in a pink Salwar Kurta, Mayawati was greeted by loud cheers as she walked to the dais to assume reins of the state for the fourth time.

Just in front of her in the VIP box sat her predecessor Mulayam Singh Yadav and Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey.

Mayawati, however, walked straight towards the left of the platform after the ceremony was over where her parents and family members of BSP national general secretary S C Mishra were sitting.

She introduced her parents to the Governor before leaving the venue.

State Congress president Salman Khursheed and party leader Pramod Tewari were also present at the ceremony but no members of the BJP, the party with which Mayawati had formed three governments in the past, was present.

Incidentally almost all the ministers, barring some Brahmin incumbents, touched Mayawati's feet after being sworn in. Rakesh Dhar Tripathi, Nakul Dubey and few other Brahmin ministers, however, touched Mishra's feet instead.

Bureau Report