West Bengal | Logjam over swearing-in of two newly-elected TMC MLAs ends

The month-long deadlock over swearing-in ceremony of two newly-elected TMC MLAs ended on Friday but not without further intensifying the governor-speaker tussle over the issue.

Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee administered the oath of office to Bhagawangola MLA Reyat Hossain Sarkar and Baranagar MLA Sayantika Banerjee during a special session of the assembly, bypassing the Governor CV Ananda Bose. The two got elected in bypolls, the results of which were announced on June 4.

Unprecedented move

This is for the first time in the history of the state’s legislature that a special session was convened to administer the oath to newly-elected members.

In another unprecedented move, the Speaker administered the oath even as the governor had assigned the deputy speaker to do so.

The swearing-in ceremony was in limbo due to differences over the ceremony’s venue. Governor Bose insisted on administering the oath to the legislators at the Raj Bhavan, which the duo declined. They stuck to their demand that they be administered oath at the assembly as per the convention.

Actress-turned politician Sayantika went to the extent of claiming that she was not very comfortable about going to the Raj Bhavan, alluding to recent allegation of sexual harassment against the governor levelled by a woman employee of the Raj Bhavan.

Month-long stalemate

The month-long standoff reached the climax after Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee summoned a special session of the assembly at 2 pm on Friday to break the logjam, asserting that the functioning of the House is not solely dependent on the governor.

Though the Speaker had not divulged the agenda of the session, sources said legal experts whom he consulted advised him that the new members could take oaths during the special session.

“Wait till Friday. It will be a very very special session. It is wrong to perceive that we are helpless. The Assembly is not helpless, and everything is not in the hands of the governor. You can’t just force everything down our throats; there are rules, regulations, and constitutional norms. All of us have to abide by them,” the Speaker had said on Thursday.

Experts differ on issue

The constitutional experts were, however, divided on whether the swearing-in ceremony could take place without the governor’s authorisation.

“The speaker cannot administer oath to the MLAs unilaterally. The swearing-in can be conducted only after the governor assigns the speaker or the deputy speaker to do the needful,” former Supreme Court judge Ashok Ganguly told the media.

In the meantime, soon after the speaker convened the special session, the governor blinked, authorising deputy speaker Ashish Banerjee to administer the oath at the assembly.

No sign of truce yet

This, however, failed to bring about a truce as Banerjee expressed his inability to administer the oath bypassing the speaker.

Speaker Banerjee then administered the oath in what is seen as an undermining of the governor’s authority in respect to administering of oaths to members.

Emphasising that the speaker has “defied constitutional prescription”, Governor Bose said a report has been sent to the President. The report apprised the “constitutional impropriety” of the speaker in administering the oath. The constitutional transgression has been done despite the governor assigning deputy speaker to administer the oath, he said.