West Bengal governor fails to comply with oath of office, demands response from parliament

CV Ananda Bose, Governor of West Bengal Photo credit: Debasish Bhaduri

Another quarrel broke out Four newly elected members of the Trinamool Congress are sworn in West Bengal Minister CV Ananda Bose has sought a response from the Congress as to why his instructions were not followed when two MLAs were sworn in during the special session of the Assembly on July 5.

On July 10, after four Trinamool Congress candidates won the by-elections, the Speaker of the Assembly wrote to the Governor urging him to administer oath to the newly elected MLAs. However, the Governor’s House wanted to know why Speaker Biman Banerjee administered oath to MLAs Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar even though the Governor had appointed the Deputy Speaker to administer oath to their representatives.

The Governor’s House had invited the two MPs to take the oath at the Governor’s House. However, they did not attend. Mr. Ananda Bose also refused the request to administer the oath to the MPs in the House and nominated Deputy Speaker Ashis Banerjee instead. But Mr. Banerjee refused on the grounds that it would lead to disrespect to the Speaker’s Chair, and the Speaker administered the oath to the two MPs. The two MPs were sworn in at the special session on July 5.

Article 188 of the Constitution provides that “every member of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of a State shall, before assuming his office, take an oath or subscribe a declaration in the form prescribed for the purpose in the Third Schedule, before the Governor or such other person as he may designate for the purpose”.

The rift between the Governor and the Speaker reflects larger tensions between the Governor’s House and the state government at a time when the constitutional and political heads are embroiled in a defamation case. Mr Ananda Bose moved the court after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said women were afraid to go to the Governor’s House since the sexual harassment allegations came to light. The Calcutta High Court has barred Ms Banerjee and three other Trinamool leaders from making statements against the Governor until August 14.

As the new session of the West Bengal Assembly begins on July 22, the swearing-in of four newly elected MLAs is likely to dominate the state’s politics.