BJP MLA Rathindra Bose was elected unopposed as Speaker of the 18th West Bengal Assembly on Friday, becoming the first legislator from the northern part of the state to hold the post.
His name was proposed in the House by Prime Minister Suvendu Adhikari, after which interim President Tapas Roy held a voice vote.
Roy announced Bose’s election as Speaker after all 207 BJP legislators extended their support in his favour.
Adhikari had on Thursday announced Bose, an MLA from Cooch Behar Dakshin seat, as the BJP’s candidate for the post of Speaker of the newly formed 18th West Bengal Assembly, while the opposition TMC decided not to field a candidate.
Bose submitted his candidacy for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday.
With the BJP enjoying an overwhelming majority of 207 votes in the 294-member House after its landslide victory in the recent polls, Bose’s elevation was merely a formality.
The TMC’s decision to stay away from the competition paved the way for his election without a fight.
Bose became the first MLA from North Bengal in post-independence history to hold the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives in the West Bengal Assembly.
This development is seen as a strategic signal from the BJP government towards the district which has emerged as one of the strongest political strongholds of the BJP in the state over the past decade.
Associated with the RSS and a chartered accountant by profession, Bose is a well-known face in North Bengal politics.
Bose’s election is also seen as a departure from a long-awaited political convention in the state, where parties traditionally prefer lawyers or legislators with legal backgrounds as Speaker of the House.
During the previous TMC regime, veteran legislator Biman Banerjee served as the council’s president.
Earlier, under the Left Front governments, political leaders, such as Syed Abdul Mansoor Habibullah and Hashim Abdul Halim, had occupied the chair.
After Bose was elected president, Adhikari addressed the assembly. Opposition Leader Subhandeep Chattopadhyay also delivered a speech in which he welcomed the new Speaker and raised the issue of alleged post-election violence.
