Latest TMC-Governor flashpoint: Who will give oath to new MLAs

Announcing that the TMC would not attend the swearing-in ceremony, state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shovandev Chattopadhyay said, “It is insulting to a people’s representative. The letter (from Raj Bhavan) only mentioned that a person who will be selected by the Governor will administer the oath. This is unprecedented in a democratic system. We will not attend the ceremony.”

Sayantika Banerjee, who was elected from Baranagar during the Assembly bypolls held along with Lok Sabha elections, said: “There is no clear indication in the letter from the Raj Bhavan who will administer the oath-taking ceremony. Without any order from my party, I will not attend the ceremony.”

Also, as per the tradition, the oath-taking ceremony for the legislators is held in the Assembly, while the swearing-in for the chief minister and the Council of Ministers is held at Raj Bhavan.

A senior TMC leader said the Governor went against the protocol and did not consult Speaker Biman Banerjee or Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee for the oath-taking ceremony.

“Without consultation with the Speaker on the oath-taking venue at Raj Bhavan is not acceptable. No one from our party will go to Raj Bhavan,” the TMC leader said.

Two years ago, a similar controversy had arisen. TMC’s Ballygunge MLA Babul Supriyo was not able to take oath as a legislator even after two weeks of getting elected because of a continuing conflict between Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee and the then Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar over who will preside over the swearing-in 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 appointed in that behalf by him”.

But according to the convention, it has always been the Speaker. But Dhankhar refused to allow Biman Banerjee to administer the oath. The matter was resolved after the Deputy Speaker agreed to administer the oath to Supriyo.