Speaker administers oath to 4 new MLAs; Guv ‘creating unnecessary hurdles’, says CM

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused Governor C V Ananda Bose of “creating unnecessary hurdles” in the oath-taking process of four newly-elected MLAs who were sworn in by Speaker Biman Banerjee in the Assembly on Tuesday.

Speaker Biman Banerjee conducted the affirmation ceremony of four newly-elected MLAs under Rule 5 of the ‘Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business, West Bengal Legislative Assembly’ after the Assembly allegedly received no delegation of authority for the affirmation ceremony from Raj Bhavan. The four TMC MLAs were Supti Pandey (Maniktala), Madhuparna Thakur (Bagda), Mukutmani Adhikari (Ranaghat South), and Krishna Kalyani (Raiganj).

Mamata said: “He (Governor) should know that Raj Bhavan is selected and the Assembly is elected. He won’t find criminals or those involved in the NEET scam here. He can only fine those who have been elected. You should obey the Constitution and should not be biased towards a particular political party.” She questioned: “Why didn’t the Governor come to the Assembly to administer the oath of the four MLAs? He was instead delaying the matter.

The Governor should act as per law”. Referring to the Governor’s imposition of fine of Rs 500 per day on two newly-elected MLAs Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar who were earlier administered oath by the Speaker, the Chief Minister retorted: “What will you do with Rs 500? Do you need tiffin money? Ask me and I will arrange it. Instead of appreciating the MLAs who got elected in people’s mandate you are imposing a penalty. It is cruelty, an attempt to crush the dreams of the two newly-elected MLAs.”

On Monday, the Governor informed the two MLAs that their swearing-in on July 5 was an instance of “constitutional impropriety” and therefore if they take part in Assembly proceedings or vote in the House, they would have to pay a fine of Rs 500 per day. In the letter, the Governor contended that he had assigned Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee to administer the oath and not the Speaker.

Banerjee said: “But the Deputy Speaker expressed his inability and asked the Speaker to administer the oath. Where is the mistake in that? The Deputy Speaker did not want to administer the oath in the presence of the Speaker. It is recorded in the session.”

“I fully support the Speaker. What the Speaker has done is correct. There is a tradition in democracy. The tradition is that newly-elected MLAs take oaths in the Assembly.

The Speaker has followed Rule 5 of the ‘Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business, West Bengal Legislative Assembly’ and conducted the affirmation. There is nothing unconstitutional in it,” she said. She reiterated that the constitution exists alongside conventions. “The integration of the Constitution and convention creates precedence.

This saves democracy. What the Governor has been doing is depriving the newly elected MLAs to render service to the people. It is a sort of dictatorship and you should be proud as your oath taking has set a precedence,” she maintained.