Directive on swearing-in not followed, West Bengal Governor seeks Assembly’s response

Fresh row over swearing-in of Trinamool Congress MLAs by West Bengal Governor amid tensions with State government.

A fresh row has erupted over the swearing-in of four newly elected MLAs of the Trinamool Congress with West Bengal Governor C. V. Ananda Bose seeking response from the Assembly over why his directions were not followed during the swearing-in of two MLAs at a special session of the Assembly on July 5.

After four candidates of the Trinamool Congress won the bypolls on July 10, the Speaker of the Assembly wrote to the Governor urging him to administer oaths to the newly elected MLAs in the House. However, the Raj Bhavan sought to know why Speaker Biman Banerjee swore in MLAs Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar even though the Governor had appointed the Deputy Speaker as his representative to administer the oath.

The Raj Bhavan had invited the two MLAs for oath taking at the Governor’s residence. However, they did not show up. Mr. Ananda Bose too had turned down a request to administer the oath to the MLAs in the Assembly and nominated Deputy Speaker Ashis Banerjee instead. But Mr. Banerjee declined on grounds that it would result in disrespecting the chair of the Speaker, who in turn administered oath to the two MLAs. The MLAs were sworn in on July 5 during a special session.

Article 188 of the Constitution states that “every member of the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council of a State shall, before taking his seat, make and subscribe before the Governor, or some person Appointed in that behalf by him, an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule”.

The differences between the Governor and the Speaker reflect larger tensions between the Raj Bhavan and the State government at a time when the constitutional head and the political head of the State are locked in a defamation case. Mr. Ananda Bose went to the court after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that women were scared to visit Raj Bhavan ever since allegations of sexual harassment had come to the fore. The Calcutta High Court restrained Ms. Banerjee and three other Trinamool leaders from making statements against the Governor till August 14.

With the fresh session of the West Bengal Assembly starting from July 22, the swearing-in of four newly elected MLAs is likely to dominate politics in the State.