West Bengal Governor Insists MLAs Take Oath at Raj Bhavan

Kolkata: West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose asserted on Tuesday that two newly-elected Trinamul Congress MLAs of Bhagabangola and Baranagar, Reyat Hossian Sarkar and Sayantika Banerjee respectively, would have to take their oath at the Raj Bhavan.

The governor's stand came a day after Ms Banerjee rejected the invitation from Raj Bhavan to take the oath from him and instead wished to be sworn-in by Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee at the House. Mr Bose also slammed the Speaker for the dilemma.

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 statement alleged, “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 Raj Bhavan further pointed out 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. In September last year, Mr Bose administered the oath to newly-elected MLA Nirmal Chandra Roy at the Raj Bhavan.