"Governor should have come to State Assembly": WB Speaker questions delay in oath ceremony of newly elected MLAs

The oath ceremony of newly elected candidates Sayantika Banerjee and Rayat Hussain was to be held on Wednesday but they were seen holding banners that stated, "Waiting for the arrival of Honourable Governor for oath."

The standoff between the Governor and the state's ruling Trinamool was triggered by a Raj Bhavan communication inviting two newly elected MLAs of Bhagwangola and Baranagar, Reyat Hossain Sarkar and Banerjee respectively for their oath-taking ceremony while the Speaker asserted that the Governor should have come to the State Assembly as the newly-elected MLAs are not becoming members of Raj Bhavan but of State Assembly.

On oath-taking of TMC MLA Sayantika Banerjee, West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee said, "I don't understand why the Governor is delaying (administering oath to newly elected MLAs) it. The Governor should have come to the State Assembly. They (newly-elected MLAs) are not becoming members of Raj Bhavan but State Assembly. The Governor should have thought about it."

Commenting on Om Birla's win as Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the West Bengal Speaker further said, "If BJP's candidate is elected as 'Speaker of the Parliament', then we all accept it. I have seen on TV that opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has also facilitated and congratulated the Speaker, after all this is all we want in parliamentary practices."

Speaking to ANI, actor-turned politician and the newly elected MLA Sayantika Banerjee said, "I can't understand what is my mistake or what crime I did. As we both are newly elected, we don't know the rules and regulations of the Vidhan Sabha. The Governor will tell who will conduct the oath ceremony, as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker don't have the intimation as to who will administer the oath".

"Usually, in the absence of the Governor, the Speaker conducts the oath ceremony and the same thing is happening in the Lok Sabha too, the Prime Minister's oath is also administered by the Speaker. Then, I want to ask why we can't do the same. This is why we are waiting for him to guide us on this matter. We are just waiting for him," said Banerjee while expressing her grief.

Another elected MLA Rayat Hussain also asserted, "We had already requested to the honourable Speaker that we will wait till 12 pm to 4 pm. We want to take an oath in the Vidhan Sabha only."

Notably, Sayantika and Rayat won the assembly by-elections from the Baranagar and Bhagbangola constituencies respectively whose results were declared on June 5. (ANI)