Kolkata, May 14 (IANS) The Leader of the House in the West Bengal Assembly, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, made a surprise announcement on Thursday, naming first-time party legislator Rathindra Bose as the nominee for the post of Speaker.

Initially, it was perceived that the seniormost party MLA in terms of legislative experience, Tapas Roy, who is currently the pro-tem Speaker of the new Assembly administering oaths to all elected legislators, would be named as the permanent Speaker.

However, to the surprise of all, the BJP legislator from Cooch Behar (Dakshin) Assembly constituency in Cooch Behar district, Rathindra Bose, was announced as the name of the party’s nominee for the post of Speaker.

“Shri Rathindra Bose; Bharatiya Janata Party MLA of the Cooch Behar Dakshin (South) Constituency has been nominated as our Candidate for the Post of Hon’ble Speaker of the 18th West Bengal Legislative Assembly. I hope that his Candidature is supported by one and all and he gets elected unanimously,” a social media statement issued by the Chief Minister in the morning read.

Unless any opposition party, including Trinamool Congress, fields any candidates for the Speaker’s post, Bose, a first-time legislator, will be unanimously elected as the first Speaker from any Assembly constituency in North Bengal.

Bose got elected from Cooch Behar (Dakshin) Assembly constituency this time after defeating the Trinamool Congress candidate Avijit De Bhowmik by a margin of over 23,0000 votes.

After his name was announced as the BJP nominee for the post of Speaker, Bose told a media person that, being an “obedient and trusted soldier in his party, he would perform to the best of his ability” and deliver on the responsibilities entrusted to him by his party.

“During the previous Trinamool Congress regime, there was no space for the opposition to speak on the floor of the Assembly. But the BJP does not believe in this theory. We believe in democracy,” Bose added.

As the BJP’s state vice-president in West Bengal, Bose had handled organisational activities for the party in North Bengal, a strong base of the BJP since 2019.

At present, he is the convener of the BJP’s North Bengal division. Although he has no experience in parliamentary politics, he is known as an acclaimed speaker. He has been associated with both the BJP and the RSS for a long time.

–IANS

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