The wait for Babul Supriyo to take oath as the Ballygunge MLA is over, the governor’s decision upheld

After Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar insists he will not change his decision on who will Oath administered to Babul Supriyo Who? Quit his job as Union Minister and BJP party to join TMCIt has been decided that the singer-turned-politician who was elected MLA last month from Ballygunge Assembly Constituency West Bengal Assembly Deputy Speaker Ashish Banerjee will take oath on Wednesday.

Usually the Speaker is nominated by the Governor to administer the oath to the new member of the Legislative Assembly. However, Mr. Dhankhar had decided to name the Vice-Chairman for the task and despite Mr. Soorpio’s repeated requests by the Speaker to administer the oath to him, the Governor decided to stick to his decision.

Though Mr. Supriyo was elected on April 16, confusion prevailed over his swearing-in ceremony.

On 30 April, the former minister tweeted a letter he had written on his petition to the governor. “For the sake of the people of Ballygunge, who did not have an MLA for several months after the passing of Subroto Mukherjee, I request your Excellency @jdhankhar1 ji to reverse the decision and allow the Hon’ble Speaker to preside over my swearing-in. Allow. Allows me to begin my work.” Mr Supriyo said on Twitter.

The Governor also replied on social media the next day: “Public domain request of Mr. Babul Supriyo, … request of Hon’ble Speaker to administer oath to the Governor is not acceptable as it is not in accordance with the Constitution.” Amidst the confusion over the swearing-in, Speaker Biman Banerjee had remarked that the swearing-in of a public representative cannot be treated as a ransom of conditions.

The by-election to the Ballygunge assembly seat was held on April 12 and the result was declared on April 16.

After giving up his Lok Sabha membership, which he had obtained on a BJP ticket, Mr. Supriyo was nominated for the Ballygunge assembly seat by the ruling TMC.