Veteran BJP leader Tapas Roy has been appointed as the Pro Tem Speaker of the newly constituted West Bengal Legislative Assembly following the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. He took oath at Lok Bhavan in Kolkata on May 12, 2026, with R. N. Ravi administered the oath of office. The ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, newly inducted ministers, and several newly elected MLAs.
A Pro Tem Speaker is a temporary presiding officer appointed to conduct the first sessions of a newly elected Assembly until a full-time Speaker is elected. Tapas Roy will oversee the swearing-in of MLAs and conduct the election for the permanent Speaker, which is scheduled for Friday. Roy is regarded as one of Bengal’s most experienced legislators. He was previously a senior leader of the All India Trinamool Congress and served multiple terms as MLA before resigning from the party in 2024 and joining the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He is also a former Minister of State for Planning and Statistics in West Bengal.
His appointment comes after the BJP’s historic victory in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, which ended 15 years of Trinamool Congress rule in the state. The Assembly’s oath-taking process is being conducted in phases over two days due to the large number of legislators. Newly elected ministers including Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Nisith Pramanik and others have already taken oath as MLAs under Roy’s supervision. The appointment is politically significant because Tapas Roy was once considered a close Trinamool Congress figure. His elevation as Pro Team Speaker reflects the changing political landscape in Bengal after the BJP formed government in the state for the first time.
