Nearly four weeks after getting elected to the State Assembly, former MP and Union Minister Babul Supriyo was on Wednesday administered oath as an MLA by Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee. This brought to an end weeks of confusion between the Raj Bhavan and the West Bengal Legislative Assembly over who would administer the oath.
Usually, it is the Speaker of the Assembly who administers oath to newly elected MLAs but on this occasion, the oath was administered by the Deputy Speaker. According to sources, Speaker Biman Banerjee had convinced Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee to administer the oath to Mr. Supriyo.
Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had gone public in the last week of April, tweeting that “Reports in section of media re: oath @SuPriyoBabul as MLA misleading. Under article 188 of Constitution, he has to make & subscribe oath before ‘Governor, or some person appointed in that behalf by him’. Urgent response sought on issues @itspcofficial is awaited from WBLA”.
The Twitter account of State’s Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee is @itspcofficial.
Mr. Supriyo had publicly urged the Governor that he be administered oath. With the Governor not budging from his stand the Speaker decided that the Deputy Speaker should administer the oath. The decision of the Raj Bhavan prevailed on this occasion.
“ I cannot change history but will work for the people of Ballygunje,” Mr. Supriyo told reporters, adding that despite the campaigns like “No Vote for Babul Supriyo” people of the constituency had voted for him.
Mr. Supriyo’s past association with the BJP posed a challenge to as he contested polls on Trinamool Congress ticket in a minority dominated seat. Mr. Supriyo won the Ballygunge bypoll by a margin of 20,228 votes over CPI(M) candidate Saira Shah Halim . The bypoll was held on April 12 and the result was announced on April 16.
The singer-turned-politician said that he wanted to quit politics last year after resigning as BJP MP from Asansol but West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee advised him not to do so. Prior to this, Mr. Supriyo was dropped from the Union Council of Ministers
