Senior BJP Leader Tapas Roy sworn in as Bengal Assembly pro-tem Speaker
Telegraph | 13 May 2026
Senior BJP leader Tapas Roy was on Tuesday sworn in as the pro-tem Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly, setting in motion the formal proceedings of the newly constituted House following the BJP’s historic victory in the recent Assembly elections.
The election for the Speaker’s post would take place on Friday, Roy said.
Roy was administered the oath as pro-tem Speaker by West Bengal Governor R N Ravi at Lok Bhavan here in the presence of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, newly inducted ministers and several newly elected MLAs.
Roy, veteran TMC leader and four-term MLA, had quit the party and had joined the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
He later said that oath-taking of the newly elected legislators would be held on Wednesday and Thursday, while the election for the Speaker’s post would take place on Friday.
Adhikari attended the ceremony shortly after returning to Kolkata from Assam, where he had participated in the swearing-in ceremony of Himanta Biswa Sarma earlier in the day.
The Assembly premises and adjoining areas wore a saffron hue on Tuesday evening, with parts of the Vidhan Sabha complex illuminated in saffron lights, reflecting the political transition in the state following the BJP’s maiden ascent to power in West Bengal.
Although the state Assembly has 294 seats, oath-taking will be held for 290 MLAs over the next two days.
Polling in the Falta Assembly constituency has been countermanded following allegations of electoral malpractices. Fresh voting will be held on May 21.
Adhikari and AJUP founder Humayun Kabir won from two seats each, necessitating bypolls after they vacate one constituency apiece. Roy has already been administered the oath.
According to the schedule, Adhikari and other ministers will take the oath as MLAs during the first half of Wednesday. Newly elected members from the north Bengal districts and Murshidabad will also take the oath during that session.
In the second half of Wednesday, MLAs elected from Nadia, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas districts will be administered the oath.
On Thursday, legislators from Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Purba Medinipur and Jhargram districts will take oath during the first half, while MLAs from Paschim Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura, Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Bardhaman and Birbhum districts will take oath in the second half.