The newly-elected four MLAs will take their oath tomorrow, announced Speaker Biman Banerjee.

Sources at Legislative Assembly said no positive response regarding the oath-taking ceremony was received from the Raj Bhavan even today. Therefore, following the tradition of the Legislative Assembly, Mukutmani Adhikari, MLA of Ranaghat South, Krishna Kalyani, MLA of Raiganj, Supti Pandey, MLA of Maniktala and Madhuparna Thakur, MLA of Bagdah, will take their oath on Tuesday.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee may join the Assembly session tomorrow. There had been a tussle between the Legislative Assembly and the Raj Bhavan regarding the oath-taking of MLAs Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar. There was also a concern that there might be complications regarding the oath-taking of the winning Trinamul candidates in the second phase of the Bengal Assembly by-elections. In this context, the session of the Legislative Assembly began on Monday.

On the very first day of the session, the Speaker announced the schedule for the four MLAs’ oath-taking. The by-election results were announced on 13 July. The Legislative Assembly secretariat had sent a letter to the Raj Bhavan to administer the oath to the MLAs. However, in response to the letter from the Assembly, the Raj Bhavan sent a letter to the Assembly secretariat, which did not mention any responsibility regarding the oath-taking. Instead, the Raj Bhavan sought answers to two questions. The Raj Bhavan asked the Assembly if it was true that the deputy speaker of the Assembly, Ashis Banerjee, was appointed by the Governor to administer the oath to Sayantika and Reyat, but according to media reports, Speaker Biman administered their oath. The second question from the Raj Bhavan was regarding the session of the Assembly. The Governor inquired why the Assembly session was being ‘adjourned’ repeatedly instead of being ‘prorogued’.

Generally, after the prorogation of the Assembly session, the Raj Bhavan issues a ‘notification’ to call the Session again. However, if the session is adjourned, it can be resumed at any time without the approval of the Raj Bhavan. Earlier in February, the Assembly session was adjourned, and later it was reconvened for a day for the oath-taking of Sayantika and then adjourned again.

Following the Raj Bhavan’s letter, it was anticipated that there might be complications regarding the oath-taking of Mukutmani and others. In this context, the Speaker announced that the four MLAs would take their oath on Tuesday.