Veteran BJP leader Tapas Roy sworn in as Bengal Assembly pro-tem Speaker

Kolkata: Six-time legislator and veteran BJP leader Tapas Roy took oath as the pro-tem Speaker in the West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday. Governor R.N. Ravi administered the oath of office to Roy at Lok Bhawan.

After Roy’s oath as the pro-tem Speaker, Roy will administer the oath ceremony of the newly elected legislators of BJP in West Bengal Assembly polls on Thursday. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhiakri and five ministers of his council of ministers-Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Khudiram Tudu, Nishith Pramanik and Ashok Kirtania were present at the ceremony. Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Agarwal and state Home Secretary were present at the ceremony.

“I will take oath in Lok Bhawan. Earlier Assembly was ruled from Nabanna. There were no rules and principles. Now, assembly will be conducted as per Constitutional rules and regulations. There will be space for Opposition,” Roy said.


Roy is the seniormost legislator among the 207 existing MLAs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which formed its first government in West Bengal since Independence after the Assembly polls this time.

A pro-tem Speaker is a temporary presiding officer who conduct the business of a newly elected Lok Sabha or State Assembly before a regular Speaker is elected.

Roy was first elected as a legislator in 1996 as a Congress MLA from the Vidyasagar Assembly Constituency.

Out of the total 294 assembly seats, currently there are 293 legislators, as the Election Commission of India (ECI) decided to conduct repolling for the Falta Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district following massive electoral irregularities on April 29.

The repolling for Falta will be conducted on May 21, and the results will be declared on May 24.

In 2011, when Mamata Banerjee came to power, defeating the 34-year Left Front regime in the state, Roy won with a Trinamool ticket from the Baranagar Assembly constituency.

He got re-elected twice again from Baranagar in 2016 and 2021. On March 4, 2024, just before the last Lok Sabha polls, he quit Trinamool Congress, resigned as a legislator and joined the BJP.