Governor C.V. Ananda Bose will administer the oath to six newly elected Trinamool Congress MLAs at the Assembly on Monday, signalling an end to the tug-of-war between Raj Bhavan and the ruling establishment over swearing-in ceremonies.

Sources revealed that Raj Bhavan had on Friday night conveyed to the Assembly the governor’s interest in swearing the six MLAs in and requested Speaker Biman Banerjee to make arrangements so that the oath-taking could be held at the earliest.

“Necessary arrangements for oath or affirmation of six newly-elected members to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly to be administered by the Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal under Article 188 of the Constitution of India have been made on the 2 December, 2024 at 12.30 p.m. in the Legislative Chamber, Assembly House,” an Assembly notification says.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to be present at the ceremony.

The six legislators who won the November 13 bypolls are Sangita Roy from Sitai, Jayprakash Toppo from Madarihat, Sanat De from Naihati, S.K. Rabiul Islam from Haroa, Sujoy Hazra from Medinipur and Falguni Singhababu from Taldangra.

The differences between Raj Bhavan and the Assembly regarding swearing-in came to an end after parliamentary affairs minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay and Speaker Banerjee wrote to the governor, requesting him to visit the Assembly to conduct the oath of the six newly elected MLAs or authorise someone to discharge the constitutional responsibility on his behalf.

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. Bose wanted the swearing-in to take place at Raj Bhavan, but Banerjee and Sarkar insisted that they take oath atthe Assembly.

Subsequently, the governor delegated the responsibility of administering the oaths to deputy Speaker Ashis Banerjee, who refused, stating that doing so would “demean the position” of the Speaker.

A similar situation arose with 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 were sworn in bythe Speaker.

Bose lodged a complaint with President Droupadi Murmu, accusing theSpeaker of “constitutionalimpropriety.”