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Journalism of Courage
A NEW STANDOFF is underway between the ruling Trinamool Congress and Governor in West Bengal – this time over the swearing-in of two MLAs of the party who won in recent bypolls.
On Wednesday noon, the two, Sayantika Banerjee (Baranagar MLA) and Rayat Hossain Sarkar (Bhagabangola MLA), began a four-hour wait – till 4 pm – in the state Assembly compound for Governor C V Ananda Bose to come and swear them in.
Bose too was waiting, over at the Raj Bhavan, having told the two MLAs to come there at 12 pm Wednesday for the swearing-in.
What is the standoff about?
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.
Banerjee and Sarkar won in bypolls held on June 1, comfortably defeating a BJP and Congress candidate, respectively.
What have the MLAs said?
With the TMC at loggerheads with Bose on various issues, including security at the Raj Bhavan, the two MLAs have said that the Governor should either authorise the Speaker or Deputy Speaker to swear them in, or come to the Assembly if he wants to administer the oath himself.
On Monday, Banerjee wrote to Bose, asking him to let Speaker Biman Banerjee administer her the oath as MLA.
On Tuesday, she told reporters: “I am a Member of the Legislative Assembly, and I need to work from here. The general practice is that in the case of a by-election, the Governor writes to the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker to administer the oath. That is why I wrote to the Governor… and said I would like to take the oath in the Assembly… Already three weeks have passed since my victory but I am yet to start working for the people of my constituency.”
Sarkar said: “I also want to take the oath in the Assembly. We are waiting for the Governor to come here for the same.”
What is the Raj Bhavan’s stand?
The Raj Bhavan Tuesday cited Clause 188 of the Constitution to underline that the Governor has the final say on the swearing-in of MLAs. As per the Clause, every member of the Assembly, before taking their seat, must take an oath before the Governor or some person assigned to do so by the Governor.
In a post on its official X handle, the Raj Bhavan cited instances from the past of newly elected members, such as Mamata Banerjee, Jakir Hossain and Amirul Islam – all of the TMC – taking their oath or affirmation before the then Governor in 2021.
In a similar situation two years ago, TMC Ballygunge MLA Babul Supriyo could not take oath as a legislator even two weeks after his election due to a conflict between the Speaker and then Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar – who also had a contentious relationship with the TMC government – over who would preside over the swearing-in ceremony.
Dhankhar finally assigned the job to Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee, who also belongs to the TMC.
While MLAs remain members of the Assembly on paper despite not taking oath, they can’t take part in the voting process till they do so.
What has the Speaker said?
Speaker Banerjee has called the whole situation “unfortunate”. “The oath-taking ceremony is a constitutional protocol and it is very unfortunate that we have to experience this kind of situation. If the Governor is interested, he can come to the Assembly and conduct the oath-taking ceremony. We will make all the arrangements. We do not have any problem. But there should not be any impasse.”
Why is the TMC reluctant for its MLAs to go to the Raj Bhavan?
Sources in the ruling party said their reluctance stems from the episode when Governor Bose barred minister Chandrima Bhattacharya from visiting the Raj Bhavan over remarks made by her on the molestation charge against the Governor by a woman staffer.
