West Bengal Legislative Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee has summoned a special session of the House on Friday amid an impasse over the swearing-in of two newly elected Trinamool Congress MLAs, reported PTI.

The two legislators are Sayantika Banerjee, who won from Baranagar, and Reyat Hossain Sarkar who won from Bhagabangola Assembly constituency in bye-elections on June 5. They are yet to assume their roles due as they have not yet taken the oath of office.

Governor CV Ananda Bose had previously invited the two MLAs to take the oath at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata but they declined, instead asking Bose to administer the oath to them in the Assembly or authorise Biman Banerjee to do so.

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The MLAs, who have been staging a sit-in at the West Bengal Assembly premises for the last six days, contended that as per the custom for winners of bye-elections, the oath is to be administered in the House by either the speaker or deputy speaker on the Governor’s behalf.

Hours after the Assembly speaker summoned the special session, Bose authorised Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee to administer the oath to the newly elected legislators, reported The Indian Express.

On Thursday, Biman Banerjee said that the Business Advisory Committee of the Assembly is meeting on Friday to decide the tenure of the session, despite the two MLAs not being sworn in yet.

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“If someone thinks that we are helpless, then he or she is wrong,” he said, reported PTI. “The Assembly is not helpless, and everything is not in the hands of the governor. You can’t just force everything down our throats; there are rules, regulations, and constitutional norms.”

The speaker, who had earlier sought intervention of President Droupadi Murmu to clear the impasse, accused the governor of turning the matter into an ego battle. “This matter should be resolved so that the MLAs can take the oath,” he had said.