KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose has written to President Draupadi Murmu, accusing West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee of 'unconstitutional actions' after the Speaker administered the oath to two newly elected TMC MLAs.
The impasse over the swearing-in of Sayantika Banerjee from Baranagar and Reyat Houssen Sarkar from Bhagawangola persisted for a week after the two refused to take the oath at Raj Bhavan. The deadlock ended on Friday when Legislative Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee administered the oath to the two MLAs. Bose had assigned Deputy Speaker Ashish Banerjee to administer the oath, but he refused, stating, “it does not seem good that the Deputy Speaker is administering the oath while the Speaker is present.”
Eventually, violating the Governor’s directive, the Speaker administered the oath to the two MLAs.
The face-off between the TMC government and Governor Bose over the swearing-in ceremony began in the second week of June after the Governor asked the two MLAs to come to Raj Bhavan for the oath-taking ceremony and they refused.
The Governor, who normally assigns either the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker to give oath to the legislators, sent a letter inviting the MLAs to take oath at the Raj Bhavan on June 26. However, the letter reportedly did not mention who would administer the oath.
This led the TMC to announce that it would not attend the swearing-in ceremony.
State Parliamentary Affairs Minister said “It is insulting to a people’s representative. The letter (from Raj Bhavan) only mentioned that a person who will be selected by the Governor will administer the oath. This is unprecedented in a democratic system”.
The two newly elected MLAs then began a protest at the Assembly, demanding that Governor Bose come to the Assembly to administer the oath or assign the Speaker to take up the task.
Last week Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also launched a scathing attack against the Governor for the delay in the swearing-in ceremony. “The two legislators have been elected by people’s mandate. What right does the Governor have to stop them from taking oath? It has been almost a month that uncertainties are shrouding the issue,” Banerjee said at state secretariat Nabanna.
“They [the MLA-elects] are right. Either the Governor should nominate the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker to administer the oath, or he should go to the Assembly himself and do the needful. Why will the two MLAs go to the Raj Bhavan? As it is, after what happened in the Raj Bhavan, women are scared to go there. I have received complaints,” Banerjee added, hinting at the police complaint filed by a temporary female staff of the Raj Bhavan accusing the Governor of molestation.
