Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, who gained the Bhabanipur meeting constituency within the just lately held West Bengal elections, resigned from the publish on Friday, sparking speculations that chief minister Mamata Banerjee will contest the seat to enter the meeting.
Banerjee gained the seat in a by-election in 2011 and retained it in 2016. In the 2021 polls, she contested Nandigram, the place she misplaced to her lieutentant-turned-rival, Suvendu Adhikari, in a see-saw electoral battle.
Banerjee must get elected as a legislator inside subsequent six months to retain the state’s high job.
“Article 164(4) of our Constitution states that a minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the legislature of the state shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a minister…as per the Constitution, she (Banerjee) has to be elected within those six months to continue (as the CM),” political professional Kapil Thakur stated. “If she is not elected at the end of six months, she will lose her post.”
The different possibility for Banerjee will likely be to enter the meeting via the Vidhan Parishad, or an Upper House. To ensure, Bengal doesn’t presently have a bicameral legislature, which was abolished in 1969. But the TMC authorities is contemplating reviving it.
Since Chattopadhyay too is an elected MLA and minister, he can have the identical choices to retain his membership of the House. Chattopadhyay, identified to be an influential TMC chief, was personally chosen for the Bhabanipur seat by the CM. Presently, he’s the minister-in-charge, division of energy and non-conventional power sources.
With his resignation, the Bhabanipur seat is now vacant and the Election Commission will determine how and when to conduct elections in such constituencies.
As of now, there are six vacant seats in Bengal. Recently, the Dinhata and Santipur meeting seats fell vacant after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Nisith Pramanik and Jagannath Sarkar resigned as MLAs, whereas retaining their Parliament membership.
Also, elections couldn’t be held in Samserganj and Jangipur seats in Murshidabad because of the loss of life of candidates earlier than the state polls. The Kharda seat additionally fell vacant in North 24-Parganas district after the loss of life of TMC candidate Kajal Sinha earlier than the outcomes.
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