Defying Governor, Bengal Speaker administers oath to two MLAs

Kolkata, July 5

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West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee administered the oath to two newly elected TMC MLAs on Friday, defying the Governor’s directive to appoint Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee for the task, sparking accusations of constitutional impropriety from Raj Bhawan.

The incident led Governor CV Ananda Bose to send a report to President Droupadi Murmu, alleging that the Speaker’s actions violated constitutional norms.

According to a Raj Bhawan official, Bose wrote to the President, asserting that the administration of oaths to the MLAs by the Bengal Speaker at the state Assembly was unconstitutional.

The special one-day session of the Assembly adjourned sine die after the legislators were sworn in. The swearing in of the two TMC MLAs — Rayat Hossain Sarkar from Bhagwangola in Murshidabad district and Sayantika Bandopadhyay from Baranagar on the northern outskirts of Kolkata — ended the month-long impasse between Raj Bhawan and the Assembly over the venue of the ceremony and the administering authority.