Defying Guv diktat Speaker administers oath to 2 new MLAs
The Statesman | 6 July 2024
Biman Bandyopadhyay, Speaker of the state Assembly, on Friday administered the oath to the two newly-elected Trinamul Congress MLAs Sanyantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar.
The Baranagar and Bhagwangola Assembly constituency winners were administered oath 31 days after the results of bypolls were announced on 4 June.
But the controversy in connection with the swearing-in of the two new legislators did not come to an end though they from now would be allowed to take part in different sessions and programmes of the Assembly.
The reason: Mr Bandyopadhyay administered Ms Banerjee and Mr Hossain Sarkar the oath though the Governor C V Ananda Bose on Thursday had assigned Dr Asish Banerjee, deputy Speaker to administer the swearing-in of the two MLAs.
But Dr Banerjee was not willing to follow the directive of Mr Bose when the speaker himself was present in the House. He proposed the name of the Speaker and requested him to administer the oath.
“I won’t administer them the oath when the Speaker is present and it will be an act of disrespect to him,” Dr Banerjee said today before the programme started in the Assembly.
Mr Hossain Sarkar was seen taking the oath first at 2.24 pm, followed by Ms Banerjee.
Earlier, the Business affairs (BA) committee held around noon also decided that Dr Banerjee would administer them the oath. But Dr Banerjee requested the Speaker to do it. Besides the Speaker and deputy Speaker, several ministers like Sobhandeb Chatterjee, Firhad Hakim, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Aroop Biswas, Sashi Panja and other Trinamul Congress MLAs were present in the BA committee meeting to solve the stalemate over the swearing-in issue of the two MLAs.
The opposition BJP MLAs walked out of the house in protest against the decision to hold the ceremony amidst the special session of the Assembly.
In an order issued on Thursday evening, Mr Bose had stated: “By virtue of the power vested in me by Article 188 of the Constitution of India, I, Dr C V Ananda Bose, Governor of West Bengal, hereby appoint Dr Asish Banerjee, deputy Speaker, West Bengal Legislative Assembly, as the person before whom Shri Reyat Hossain Sarkar, elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 62-Bhagawangola Assembly Constituency and and Smt Sayantika Banerjee, elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 113-Baranagar Assembly make and subscribe, an oath or affirmation according to the form set for the purpose in the Third Schedule of the Constitution.”
The oath-taking could not be held owing to tussle between Raj Bhavan and state legislative Assembly.