West Bengal: Two TMC MLAs to take oath in assembly after days of impasse

Kolkata, July 5 (PTI) Two newly-elected TMC MLAs will take oath in the assembly on Friday afternoon following days of impasse over the venue of the ceremony, officials said.

Governor CV Ananda Bose, in a sudden development on Thursday night, authorised Deputy Speaker Ashish Banerjee to swear in Rayat Hossain Sarkar and Sayantika Banerjee as MLAs at the assembly, they said.

“The oath will be administered by the deputy speaker at the start of the special session at 2 pm,” an official of the assembly secretariat said.

Speaker Biman Banerjee summoned the special session, asserting that the functioning of the House is not solely dependent on the governor.

He had earlier sought the intervention of President Droupadi Murmu to resolve the oath-taking impasse.

Sarkar was elected from Bhagabangola in Murshidabad district, while Banerjee won the Baranagar seat in North 24 Parganas district in by-elections that were held along with the Lok Sabha polls.

The governor had invited the two MLAs to take the oath at the Raj Bhavan last month. However, they declined, claiming convention dictates that in the case of bypoll winners, the governor assigns the speaker or the deputy speaker to administer the oath.

Demanding that their oath-taking programme be held in the Vidhan Sabha, Sarkar and Banerjee also sat on dharna in the assembly complex for days.