Bengal minister for parliamentary affairs, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, will soon write to governor C.V. Ananda Bose, requesting him to visit the Assembly to conduct the swearing-in of the six newly elected MLAs or authorise someone to discharge the constitutional responsibility on his behalf.

Sources in the Trinamool Congress said the letter was likely to be sent on Tuesday so that the governor could conduct the swearing-in ceremony in the Assembly at his convenience during the winter session, which began on Monday.

According to the rules, after the election process is completed, the office of the chief electoral officer sends separate letters to the Assembly and the state government with details of the winners. The parliamentary affairs department then requests Raj Bhavan to initiate the swearing-in for the victors.

“We will request the governor following the constitutional protocol and now the governor is supposed to respond. After the governor gives the go-ahead, we will start necessary preparations for the swearing-in ceremony,” a senior Trinamool MLA said.

The parliamentary affairs department’s planned request to the governor appears to be an effort to avoid the repeat of confrontations with Raj Bhavan over who would administer oaths to MLAs.

A tussle had broken out between the governor and the Speaker during the swearing-in of Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar. Speaker Biman Banerjee had to convene a special session to administer their oaths.

Banerjee and Sarkar, who won from Baranagar in North 24-Parganas and Bhagabangola in Murshidabad in the June 4 bypolls, respectively, had to wait for over a month before they were sworn in by the Speaker.

The stand-off between Raj Bhavan and the Assembly began when the parliamentary affairs department did not send a letter to Bose. Instead, the Speaker informed Bose directly about the new MLAs, requesting him to administer the oath himself.

In response, Bose invited the two MLAs to Raj Bhavan to take their oaths on June 26. However, Banerjee and Sarkar preferred to be sworn in at
the Assembly and requested the governor to attend it. When Bose declined, the MLAs staged a sit-in on the Assembly premises for several days.

The governor subsequently delegated the responsibility of administering the oath to deputy Speaker Ashis Banerjee, who declined, stating that doing so would “demean the position” of the Speaker.

Following this, Speaker Banerjee conducted the swearing-in ceremony for the two MLAs, prompting Bose to complain to President Droupadi Murmu about what he described as “constitutional impropriety.”

A similar situation arose with four MLAs — Supti Pandey from Maniktala, Mukutmoni Adhikari from Ranaghat South, Krishna Kalyani from Raiganj, and Madhuporna Thakur from Bangaon — who won the July 13 bypolls. They too were also sworn in by
the Speaker, bypassing the governor.