Governor insists on Raj Bhavan oath for newly-elected MLAs
Kolkata: Amid speculations over the swearing-in ceremony of the two newly elected MLAs, Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Tuesday made it clear that two Trinamool Congress MLAs — Reyat Hossian Sarkar from Bhagawangola and Sayantika Banerjee from Baranagar would have to take their oath at the Raj Bhavan.
The incident has again triggered confusion over the swearing-in of the two MLAs whether they will attend the oath-taking ceremony at Raj Bhawan on Wednesday. Sayantika Banerjee, elected from Baranagar on Monday wrote a letter to Governor Bose on Monday expressing her wish not to take oath as an MLA at Raj Bhavan.
She also met Assembly Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay and announced her intention to take oath in the Assembly instead of the Raj Bhavan, as asked by Governor C V Ananda Bose.
Governor Bose on Tuesday remained critical about the Assembly Speaker’s role over the issue. The Raj Bhavan claimed in a statement on X-handle: “It is unfortunate that a stand was taken by the Hon’ble Speaker in his letter dated 20.06.2024.
The letter was in bad taste undermining the dignity of the Governor and contained barbs and innuendos.” It added: “The letter of the Hon’ble Speaker mentioned:..it is my earnest request to you to consider the matter as per the well-established constitutional convention so that the newly elected Members can be administered Oath/ Affirmation as early as possible..” “The response received from the Speaker being evasive carried a tenor that undermined the authority of the Governor as enshrined in the Constitution.
Therefore, it was decided to return it to the sender…It is inexplicable that in his letter the Speaker has indicated about ‘convention’ implying that the Governor authorizes the Speaker to administer the oath or affirmation to the newly elected Members,” the statement alleged.
The ruling Trinamool had alleged that it was an act of defiance of the custom by the Governor as traditionally the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker of the House to do the needful in cases of by-poll winners.
The Raj Bhawan on Tuesday also mentioned some previous instances of MLAs being sworn in by the governors and shared a list that included Mamata Banerjee (Bhowanipore), Jakir Hossian (Jangipur) and Amirul Islam (Samserganj) in 2021.
