The impasse over the swearing-in of the two newly elected Trinamool Congress MLAs continued with the duo staging a dharna in front of the Assembly from 12pm to 4pm on Wednesday demanding that the governor come to the House to administer the oath.

As the two TMC MLAs sat on the dharna, Raj Bhavan remained in waiting mode as all arrangements for the swearing-in ceremony of Sayantika Banerjee and Rayat Hossain Sarkar were in place. As the two did not arrive, governor C.V. Ananda Bose left for Delhi around 3.30pm, putting the entire swearing-in process in jeopardy.

Sources in Raj Bhavan said there was an arrangement for nearly 40 people and the governor was waiting for the legislators but as they didn’t come, he left for Delhi.

“It was a pre-scheduled programme and he had to go,” an official at Raj Bhavan said.

"B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution, had said that if someone becomes a legislator mid-term, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly can administer the oath," Speaker Biman Banerjee said, adding that he was seeking advice from legal experts regarding the complications that had arisen.

“If needed, I shall approach the President also,” he said.

During the dharna, Sayantika (Baranagar MLA) and Sarkar (Bhagabangola MLA) held placards that had written on them — ‘Waiting for the arrival of Hon. Governor for oath’. Later in the day, minister for parliamentary affairs Sovondeb Chattopadhyay also joined the demonstration.

Constitutionally, the governor administers oath to an MLA, but by convention, in the case of a bypoll, the governor assigns the job to the Speaker or the deputy Speaker of the Assembly.

The controversy arose when Bose refused to approve the Speaker or the deputy Speaker and instead demanded that Banerjee and Sarkar, both first-time MLAs, come to Raj Bhavan to be sworn in by him.

On Tuesday, Raj Bhavan stated on its official X handle that according to clause 188 of the Indian Constitution, every member of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of a State must take an oath before taking their seat, administered by the governor or someone appointed by them for that purpose. Raj Bhavan also provided examples of MLAs who won in mid-term polls and came to the governor to take their oath.

Along with this, Bose also gave two letters to the legislators inviting them to come to Raj Bhavan for the swearing-in but the duo refused to go to Raj Bhavan as the Speaker has not been intimidated.

The two MLAs after talking to the Speaker wrote to the governor on Tuesday that he should either authorise the Speaker or the deputy Speaker to swear them in or come to the Assembly if he wanted to administer the oath himself.

“I am a member of the Assembly, and I need to work from here.... Three weeks have already passed since my victory but I am yet to start working for my constituency,” Sayantika told the media on Tuesday.