West Bengal: Governor-government tussle derails swearing-in of two MLAs

The ongoing animosity and bitterness between the governor and the ruling dispensation in West Bengal has grown to such an extent that it is posing to be a major hurdle for two newly-elected legislators.

The swearing-in ceremony of Bhagawangola MLA Reyat Hossain Sarkar and his Baranagar counterpart Sayantika Banerjee has not taken place even 22 days after they got elected, hampering their functioning as public representatives.

The two MLAs who missed taking their oath due to a venue dispute are now staging a dharna outside the West Bengal Assembly on Thursday (June 27). 

Banerjee and Sarkar are demanding that governor CV Ananda Bose enable them to perform the duty of elected public representatives by facilitating the oath-taking ceremony inside the assembly.

Row over venue

The problem began when governor CV Ananda Bose insisted that the two MLAs take the oath at Raj Bhavan. He scheduled the swearing-in on June 26 without mentioning who will administer the oath to them.

The governor told the MLAs in a letter that he would wait for them till 3.30 pm. The two MLAs on the other hand informed the Raj Bhavan that they would take oath in the Assembly and it should be administered by Speaker Biman Banerjee.

A drama unfolded on Wednesday when the two legislators sat on a dharna at the Assembly complex holding placards that read: Waiting for the arrival of Honourable Governor for oath.

They were joined by parliamentary affairs minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay. They sat there “waiting” for the governor from 12 noon to 4 pm.

Even as the legislators were engaged in the sit-in protest, the governor left for New Delhi.

Legal advice

The Bengal assembly Speaker has decided to take legal advice to break the deadlock. “If needed, I will also meet the President (Droupadi Murmu),” Speaker Banerjee told the media. He accused Bose of turning the swearing-in ritual into an "ego battle" and intentionally complicating the issue.

The governor administers the oath to an MLA as per the constitutional provision. But conventionally, the governor assigns either the Speaker or the deputy to swear in the legislators.

“The swearing-in of the legislators is always done by the Speaker. Even BR Ambedkar mentioned this. It is very unfortunate that the governor didn’t even deem it necessary to inform the Speaker,” Banerjee said.

Not the first time

There have been precedents of newly-elected members taking oath or affirmation before the governor. The latest was Dhupguri Trinamool Congress MLA Nirmal Chandra Roy, who was sworn in by governor Bose at the Raj Bhavan in September last year.

This is not the first time such a stalemate has arisen. A couple of years ago TMC’s Ballygunge MLA Babul Supriyo’s oath taking was delayed for over two weeks because of a tussle between the Assembly Speaker and then governor Jagdeep Dhankhar over who will preside over the ceremony.

Dhankhar had assigned the job to deputy speaker Asish Banerjee, citing Article 188 of the Constitution that states new members of legislative assemblies must take “oath before the Governor, or some person assigned to do so by him”. 

The deadlock was resolved after the Speaker agreed to the governor’s proposal.

Sexual harassment charge

The relation between the incumbent West Bengal governor and the TMC government plummeted to a new low over the allegation of sexual harassment against the governor.

The TMC made the allegation into a major poll issue with the chief minister even going to the extent of saying at an election rally that she would not visit the Raj Bhawan as long as governor Bose remains in his post.

Bose also recently stated that he would not engage in a verbal match with the chief minister since that indicates a complete breakdown of working relations between the governor and the state government.