Sayantika notifies Governor of intent to take oath in Assembly
Kolkata: Adding a fresh twist to the ongoing Trinamool Congress-Governor standoff, newly elected Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator Sayantika Banerjee met Bengal Speaker Biman Banerjee on Monday and announced her intention to take the oath in the Assembly and not at the Raj Bhavan.
Banerjee added that she would take oath in the state legislative Assembly in the presence of Speaker Biman Bandyopadhayay. The Governor had earlier sent a letter to her and Reyat Hossain Sarkar, another newly elected MLA from Bhagwangola, asking them to attend a swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan on June 26 triggering the latest faceoff between the Bengal Governor and the state’s ruling TMC. The Governor usually appoints the Speaker to swear in the by-poll winners.
Banerjee won the Baranagar Assembly seat.
Speaker Biman Bandyopadhayay told the media: “This is a mistake on the part of the Governor. He is blatantly violating Constitutional conventions. It’s a shame we have to witness this. If his common sense prevails, he will be free to come to the Assembly and take oath before the MLAs. I don’t know if the president has ever sworn an oath to a mid-term elected member of Parliament.”
Banerjee on the other hand told reporters that she has shot off a letter to Raj Bhavan stating her intentions to skip the Governor-mandated oath.
The ruling TMC 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.
TMC found it “disrespectful” after Governor Bose’ in a letter to the newly elected MLAs said that a person nominated by him would conduct their swearing in ceremony.