The two newly elected MLAs of the Trinamul Congress resumed their dharna on the premises of the Assembly on Thursday as governor C.V. Ananda Bose remained in New Delhi and showed no signs of administering the oath to the legislators at the House.

The governor had asked the MLAs, Sayantika Banerjee and Rayat Hossain Sarkar, to reach Raj Bhavan where he would administer the oath on Wednesday. But the MLAs refused to go to Raj Bhavan and insisted that Bose come to the Assembly and administer the oath to them.

Speaker Biman Banerjee also placed the same proposal before the governor.

The controversy took a new turn on Thursday with chief minister Mamata Banerjee claiming that women were scared to go to Raj Bhavan.

“I have received complaints that because of various scandals and misconduct going on at Raj Bhavan, women are afraid to go there,” Mamata said, referring to the recent complaint lodged against the governor by a woman employee of Raj Bhavan.

“Even after winning (by-elections), my legislators have been waiting for a month! The governor is not allowing them to take the oath. People have elected them. What right does he have to prevent them from taking the oath? He should give this right (to administer the oath) to the Speaker or the deputy Speaker. If not, then, he should go to the Assembly himself. Why should everyone go to Raj Bhavan?” asked Mamata.

As the two MLAs continued to wait for the oath-taking, Biman Banerjee wrote to President Droupadi Murmu detailing the entire chain of events and asked her to intervene to end the stalemate.

“I have asked our honourable President to intervene and request the governor to either come to the Assembly and administer the oath or assign me so that I can complete the ritual,” Biman said, adding that he had also called up Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar to discuss the matter but the latter was at busy a meeting.

Sayantika and Sarkar continued their protest in front of the statue of B.R. Ambedkar on the Assembly premises for the second consecutive day. The dharna was held from 12pm to 4pm.

Asked about the chief minister’s reaction, Sayantika said: “The chief minister has made the right comment. We are young and did not want to speak up on this.... Let him come to the Assembly and administer the oath and then go wherever he wants to.”

Constitutional experts have said rules stipulate that the governor is responsible f
or taking any decision regarding the swearing-in of MLas. The governor can conduct the swearing-in or assign the job to the Speaker or the deputy Speaker.

“According to Rule 188 of the Indian Constitution, the governor is solely responsible for decisions regarding the swearing-in of legislators. The state government has nothing to do with it. The newly elected legislators should go to Raj Bhavan and take their oath. They are unnecessarily creating complications,” former justice of the Supreme Court Asok Ganguly said.

Apart from writing to the President, the Speaker on Thursday evening met state law minister Moloy Ghatak to explore legal avenues regarding the stalemate.

“They can take legal opinion but this is an issue where the court will not intervene. The state government will have to depend on the governor only,” former Chief Justice of Calcutta and Bombay high courts, Chittatosh Mookerjee said.