Fresh Raj Bhavan-State Secretariat tussles in Bengal over oath of newly elected MLA

Kolkata, Sep 23 (IANS) A fresh tussle has surfaced between the Raj Bhavan and the State Secretariat in West Bengal over the venue of swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected Trinamool Congress legislator from Dhupguri assembly constituency in Jalpaiguri district, Nirmal Chandra Roy.

Fresh tension between the two has surfaced after the newly elected legislator received a phone call on late Friday evening from Raj Bhavan where the latter was asked whether he would have any problem in taking his oath at the Raj Bhavan. The point of tension has arisen since the communication from the Governor’s House to the newly elected legislator was made bypassing the state Parliamentary affairs department.

Political observers feel that from this communication it is clear that the Governor not only wants to administer the oath to the newly elected legislator instead of assigning the same to the speaker, but also wants the same occasion to be held at the Raj Bhavan instead of the state assembly premises.

The development has irked the state Parliamentary affairs minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay who claimed on Saturday, that confusion created by the Raj Bhavan bypassing the assembly and state Parliamentary affairs department is not a healthy practice. “The Governor seems to be totally bypassing the existing system. What the Governor is trying to do is against the Indian Constitution and the Parliamentary democracy system,” he said.

According to the state assembly speaker Biman Bandopadhyay, while the Governor has the liberty to himself administer the oath of any elected legislator, propriety says that the programme for that purpose should be conducted at the assembly premises instead of any other place. “I would like to remind the post of speaker is also constitutional just as that of the Governor,” he said.