Bengal Governor refuses to administer oaths to Trinamool MLAs, leaves for Delhi instead

The two TMC MLAs waited till 4 pm in the state Assembly compound for Governor Bose to come and swear them in or to authorise the Assembly Speaker to do so.

They also staged a sit-in on the staircase of the Assembly demanding the same.

According to sources, the Governor left for New Delhi in the evening after the MLAs failed to appear in Raj Bhavan.

Hopeful of taking the oath in the assembly after the Governor left for New Delhi, Bandyopadhyay said, “we will wait for a few more days and see what happens.”

Accusing the Governor of turning the swearing-in event into an “ego battle” and intentionally complicating the issue, the West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee said, “An impasse was deliberately created for reasons best known to the governor.”

We were waiting for him to come to the Assembly, but he didn’t come. Such an impasse is not at all expected.

Claiming that such an impasse was not expected the speaker further said that the Governor “is exercising his powers and I will also consult legal experts to understand my powers.”

Constitutionally, the Governor administers the oath to an MLA but by convention, in case of a bypoll, the Governor assigns the job to the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly.

In this case, Bose has refused to give the go-ahead for the same, and has instead demanded that Banerjee and Sarkar, both first-time MLAs, come to the Raj Bhavan to be sworn in by him.