Bengal Guv finally clears file for oath of new MLA, but bypasses Speaker

Kolkata: West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose has finally cleared the file for the swearing-in ceremony of the newly-elected Trinamool Congress legislator from Dhupguri Assembly constituency, Nirmal Chandra Ray, bypassing Assembly Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay.

Instead, the Governor has authorised the Deputy Speaker, Asish Bandopadyay, to administer oath to the newly-elected legislator. The development is expected to trigger a fresh round of tussle between the Governor’s House and the ruling party with the latter already viewing it as a subtle insult to the chair of the Speaker.

As per rule, either the Governor can himself administer the oath or assign the task to anyone of his choice, which might not be necessarily the Speaker. However, as per tradition, the Governor normally leaves the task to the Speaker.

The same confusion arose during the tenure of Bose’s predecessor and current Indian Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar last year over the oath ceremony of singer-turned-politician Babul Supriyo after he got elected as a Trinamool Congress legislator in the by-election from the Ballygunge Assembly constituency.

Dhankhar too had assigned the task of administering the oath to the Deputy Speaker, bypassing the Speaker.

However, the Deputy Speaker had refused to administer oath to Supriyo, prompting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to intervene. Following her intervention, the Speaker had administered oath to Supriyo after the Governor's nod.

Political observers feel that the sequence of events is likely to take a similar turn this time as well, with the Deputy Speaker unlike to oversee the oath ceremony.