Speaker Biman Banerjee announced on Monday that the swearing-in of four newly elected MLAs was scheduled for 1pm on Tuesday in the Assembly, but confusion remains as no delegation of authority for the affirmation ceremony had been received from Raj Bhavan till Monday evening.

Sources in the Assembly said the four Trinamul Congress MLAs — Krishna Kalyani from Raiganj, Mukut Mani Adhikari from Ranaghat Dakshin, Madhuparna Thakur from Bagda and Supti Pandey from Maniktala — would be sworn in by the Speaker.

“According to convention and under Article 188 of the Constitution, the four newly elected members, who won in the recent by-elections, will be sworn in by me,” the Speaker told reporters in his Assembly chamber.

However, constitutional experts say the Speaker could only conduct the swearing-in under Article 188 of the Constitution if the governor delegated his authority to him but there had been no communication from the Raj Bhavan in this regard so far.

According to the rule, after the completion of the election process, the Election Officer sends separate letters to the Assembly and the state government, detailing the winners. Then, the state government’s parliamentary affairs department requests Raj Bhavan to initiate the winners’ swearing-in.

To avoid the controversy that occurred during the swearing-in of Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar, the state parliamentary affairs department sent a letter to Raj Bhavan last Monday requesting governor C. V. Ananda Bose to administer the oath.

The governor, in response, asked why the Speaker administered the oath to Sayantika and Sarkar although he had appointed the deputy Speaker as his representative. The governor also inquired why the Assembly was placed in sine die mode, allowing the Speaker to reconvene it without the governor’s consent, instead of being adjourned.

The governor referenced the swearing-in of MLAs Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar, during which he delegated the responsibility under Article 188 to Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee. After the Deputy Speaker refused to conduct the oath, Speaker Biman Banerjee administered the ceremony under Rule 5 of the “Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business, West Bengal Legislative Assembly.” The governor even complained to President Droupadi Murmu, citing “constitutional impropriety.”

In addition to seeking a reply from the Assembly, the governor wrote to Sayantika and Reyat, stating that their oath before the Speaker was unconstitutional and would incur a penalty of Rs 500 per day for sitting or voting, to be recovered as a debt owed to the state.

The two MLAs, however, met the Speaker on Monday and asked him to intervene in the matter.

State parliamentary affairs minister Sovondeb Chattopadhyay said, “We have done everything under the ambit of the Constitution. There is nothing unconstitutional in it. The governor is functioning under the instructions of Delhi.”

“There is no confusion regarding the swearing-in of the four MLAs. It will happen tomorrow...,” Chattopadhyay added.