West Bengal: Governor dissolves assembly even as Mamata Banerjee refuses to quit

KOLKATA: Bengal governor RN Ravi dissolved the assembly Thursday as the election process for a new legislature concluded, paving the way for installation of BJP’s first govt in the state, reports Debashis Konar.

Mamata Banerjee, protesting the results, maintained she wouldn’t resign as CM. The governor’s decision coincided with an Election Commission move to lift the model code of conduct that had been in force since midMarch for the polls. The exception was Falta, where repolls will be held on May 21, followed by the results on May 24.



Falta’s April 29 polling was revoked over voting malpractices. The governor said in a notification the assembly had been dissolved “from Thursday in accordance with constitutional provisions of Article 174(2)(b)”. The tenure of the assembly ended and, as new MLAs were elected, the House had to be prorogued, an official said.

The new assembly will then be convened by the governor, the official said. The new MLAs will be administered oath soon. The oath is normally administered by the senior-most MLA — called pro-tem speaker — before the speaker is appointed, the official said. The new session of the assembly will begin with the governor’s speech.

With the polls over, except for Falta, sources said that EC relieved Thursday two key officials — special poll observer Subrata Gupta and special police observer NK Mishra, from their duties.