West Bengal: BJP backs MLA Rathindra Bose for assembly speaker post

BJP MLA Ratindra Bose with other BJP leaders Pic/X

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from the Coochbehar Dakshin (South) constituency has been nominated by the ruling camp for the post of the West Bengal Assembly Speaker, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Thursday.

"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," Adhikari posted on X.

Rathindra Bose is poised to be the Assembly Speaker as the BJP holds a majority in the House.

Bose had won the election from the Coochbehar constituency by a margin of 23,284 (11.4 per cent) voters. He defeated Avijit De Bhowmik of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Bose will replace BJP MLA Tapas Roy, who was sworn in as the Pro-tem Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

Roy, a veteran politician whose transition to the BJP was a key flashpoint in the lead-up to the elections, did not mince words after taking his oath.

Addressing the media shortly after Governor RN Ravi administered the oath, Roy expressed a sense of personal and political vindication. He framed the election results not just as a win, but as a liberation from the previous administration.

"I am the most delighted after the government of misrule by Mamata Banerjee was removed and the Suvendu government came to power," Roy said.

The 2026 Assembly election results marked a decisive mandate for the BJP, registering a significant surge, winning 207 seats in the 294-member Assembly, a major shift in a state where it had earlier secured 77 seats in the previous election. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), which had won 212 seats in the last Assembly polls, finished a distant second with 80 seats. This ended TMC's 15-year rule in the State.

Congress was restricted to just two seats.

Following the victory, Suvendu Adhikari took the oath as the ninth chief minister of West Bengal.

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