2 newly elected TMC MLAs continue dharna at Bengal assembly for 5th day

Kolkata, Jul 3 (PTI) Two newly elected Trinamool Congress MLAs resumed their sit-in at West Bengal assembly premises on Wednesday demanding that they be administered oath in the House rather than in the Raj Bhavan as per Governor C V Ananda Bose's invite.

The sit-in by Baranagar MLA Sayantika Bandyopadhyay and Bhagabangola legislator Rayat Hossain Sarkar entered the fifth day as they staged the demonstration on the assembly premises on June 27, 28 and July 1, 2.

The two had been declared elected in the assembly by-polls but were yet to start work as people's representatives with the process of swearing-in yet to be over.

On Wednesday, Bandyopadhyay and Sarkar sat for four hours before the statue of B R Ambedkar in the assembly premises holding placards which read "We are waiting for the Governor".

"We reiterate the demand that the Hon’ble Governor facilitate the oath-taking ceremony in the House, enabling us to perform our duties as legislators," Bandyopadhyay said.

Bandyopadhyay and Sarkar, who were elected in by-polls held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections, have refused to take oath in the Raj Bhavan.

The governor had invited the two MLAs to take oath in the Raj Bhavan last Wednesday.

They declined the invitation, claiming that convention dictates that in the case of by-poll winners, the governor assigns the Speaker of the House or the Deputy Speaker to administer the oath.

Speaker Biman Banerjee had on Monday said, "We are urging the governor to come to the assembly and himself administer the oath of office to the two MLAs. This should not be treated as an issue of ego." A senior TMC leader said on Wednesday he was looking forward to the issue getting resolved and the governor taking some initiative as soon as possible "as this impasse is not serving anyone’s interest and only harming the ordinary people living in the two assembly segments." PTI