Kolkata: Newly elected MLA Babul Supriyo and Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar were involved in a Twitter spat over oath taking ceremony of TMC leader. A Twitter spat erupted over who would administer the oath to the TMC leader. The confusion erupted when the Deputy Speaker, nominated by the Governor to administer the oath, refused, saying it would be an insult to the Speaker.
On Saturday, a statement was issued from the Raj Bhawan. It states, Ballygunge MLA Supriyo’s oath would be administered by the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly. Minutes later, Supriyo expressed his displeasure on Twitter.
He wrote, “For the sake of people of Ballygunge, who did not have an MLA for several months since the demise of Subroto Mukherjee, I would request your excellency @jdhankhar1 ji to reverse the decision and allow Hon’ble Speaker to preside over my oath taking allowing me to start my work.”
A day later, the Governor replied to him. He said that the public domain request of Babul Supriyo seeking Governor for the administration of oath by Speaker is not acceptable as not being in consonance with the Constitution.
“Appointment of the Hon’ble Deputy Speaker Dr Asish Banerjee as the person to administer oath to Shri Babul Supriyo, elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 161-Ballygunge Assembly constituency is in conformity with article 188 of the Constitution.”
“April 27 communication @SuPriyoBabul, eleven days after issuance of Certificate of Election, to Hon’ble Speaker for his oath as MLA is jurisdictionally flawed and unwholesome optics as Speaker has no role or constitutional competency in the matter, unless so assigned by the Governor,” further said.
Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee refused to administer the oath on Saturday. He said, “With the Speaker of the Assembly present, it would be an insult to him. I will send a letter to the Governor expressing my inability to administer the oath.”
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