West Bengal MLAs Continue Dharna Over Oath Ceremony Location

Two newly elected Trinamool Congress MLAs, Sayantika Bandyopadhyay and Rayat Hossain Sarkar, are on the third day of a dharna demanding to be administered the oath in the West Bengal Assembly rather than Raj Bhavan. This protest follows Governor C V Ananda Bose's invitation for the oath-taking to be held at Raj Bhavan.

The dharna by two newly elected Trinamool Congress MLAs on the West Bengal Assembly premises demanding that they be administered the oath in the House rather than in Raj Bhavan as per Governor C V Ananda Bose's invite entered its third day on Monday.

Baranagar MLA Sayantika Bandyopadhyay and Bhagabangola legislator Rayat Hossain Sarkar, who were elected in by-polls held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections, have refused to take oath in the Raj Bhavan and staged a dharna on the West Bengal assembly premises on Thursday and Friday.

On Monday, they resumed their sit-in in front of BR Ambedkar's statue in the assembly complex, demanding that Bose facilitate the oath-taking ceremony in the House, enabling them to perform their duties as legislators.

The governor had invited the two MLAs to take oath at the Raj Bhavan last Wednesday.

They declined the invitation, claiming that convention dictates that in the case of bypoll winners, the governor assigns the speaker or the deputy speaker to administer the oath.

On Monday, holding placards which read "We are still waiting for the Hon'ble Governor, Please enable us to take oath", both Bandyopadhyay and Sarkar sat before the statue for several hours.

Speaker Biman Banerjee told reporters: "We are urging the governor to come to the assembly and himself administer the oath of office to the two MLAs."

''This should not be treated as a matter of ego. I am again inviting the honourable governor to come to the state legislature. I myself will receive him at the gate and all the decorum will be followed,'' he said.

If he cannot come, he can authorize the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker to administer the oath, Banerjee said.

''As it is an assembly by-election, we appreciate if he paves the way to hold the ceremony in the assembly premises," the Speaker said.

He said similar precedents had been followed in the Lok Sabha by-election winners in the past where the Speaker or Deputy Speaker administered the swearing-in of new MPs. This uncertainty should come to an end, he said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay said, "The electorate of the two assembly seats and their elected representatives should be given their due honour and not feel insulted by the act of Raj Bhavan. We wish good sense prevail in the interest of democracy."

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)