After writing to President Droupadi Murmu seeking her help to resolve the deadlock with Governor CV Ananda Bose over the venue for the swearing in ceremony of the two newly elected Trinamool Congress MLAs, Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee reached out to Vice-President and former Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar in an effort to resolve the impasse. Before becoming the Vice-President of India, Dhankhar was the Governor of West Bengal from July 2019 to July 2022.
“Last night I called up Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and requested him to look into the matter. I also informed him that I had also written to President Droupadi Murmu regarding the issue. What is happening regarding the swearing-in of the MLAs is unacceptable,” he told mediapersons on Friday.
Two Trinamool Congress MLA candidates, Sayantika Bandyopadhyay and Rayat Hossain Sarkar, had won the bye-elections to Baranagar and Bhagabangola respectively. The bye-elections were held simultaneously with the last phase of the Lok Sabha polls on June 1 and the results were declared on June 4.
The row over the venue for the swearing in ceremony of the two newly elected Trinamool Congress MLAs intensified since the two leaders refused to take oath at Raj Bhavan as directed by Governor CV Ananda Bose and staged a dharna in the Assembly complex. The Governor had invited the duo to take the oath in the Raj Bhavan on Wednesday. However, they declined the invitation, claiming that convention dictates that in the case of bye-poll winners, the Governor assigns the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker to administer the oath.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Sayantika Bandyopadhyay and Rayat Hossain Sarkar resumed their dharna for the second consecutive day in front of BR Ambedkar’s statue in the Vidhan Sabha complex demanding that Bose enable them to perform their duties as legislators by facilitating the oath-taking ceremony in the Assembly.
Sayantika Bandyopadhyay, who was an actress before turning to politics, also told mediapersons that she “felt unsafe going to Raj Bhavan since a female staffer had accused the Governor of making inappropriate advances. My family members won’t allow me to go to Raj Bhavan alone as they are also aware of reports of a woman being molested there. Who will take the responsibility of my safety and security?”
Meanwhile on Friday, the Governor’s office criticised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her remarks suggesting women allegedly felt unsafe going to Raj Bhavan stating that it is expected of public representatives not to create “erroneous and slanderous impressions.”
“It is expected of public representatives to uphold the Constitution and refrain from creating erroneous and slanderous impressions that may cast aspersions on the Governor,” the Raj Bhavan said on X. Mamata had alleged on Thursday that she received complaints from women who felt unsafe going to Raj Bhavan after reports of certain activities there, and stressed that the Governor has no right to prevent the oath-taking process.” A political storm had erupted in May over a complaint by a Raj Bhavan woman employee who had accused the Governor of “molesting” her, even as Bose had dubbed the allegations as “baseless and absurd drama”.
The Governor’s office clarified that the newly elected MLAs had initially requested a venue shift to the Assembly due to personal preferences but had not raised any specific safety concerns about Raj Bhavan otherwise.
“The newly elected MLAs had requested the Hon’ble Governor to consider shifting the venue to the Assembly because of their personal preferences and never expressed any apprehensions about coming to Raj Bhavan otherwise,” the post added.
When the MLAs declined the Governor’s invitation to take the oath at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday, Bose left for New Delhi the same evening.
Yesterday, Mamata Banerjee had stated that Bandyopadhyay and Sarkar were unable to take the oath despite having got elected a month back, and had accused the Governor of obstructing them from doing so.
The Raj Bhavan post, however, said all issues are addressed by the Governor with “promptitude and constitutional propriety as also this one”.
“Responses unjustifiably critical of the Governor were least expected from an experienced public representative,” it added.