Kolkata, 13 May (H.S.) : Suvendu Adhikari will enter the West Bengal Assembly for the first time as Chief Minister on Wednesday during the oath-taking ceremony of newly elected legislators.

The swearing-in proceedings will be conducted by pro tem Speaker Tapas Roy, who was administered the oath on Tuesday evening by Governor R. N. Ravi at Lok Bhavan in Kolkata.

According to Assembly sources, Adhikari will first take oath as an MLA at 11 am on Wednesday, reportedly as the legislator from Bhabanipur constituency. He will be accorded a ceremonial guard of honour upon his arrival at the Assembly.

After entering the Assembly premises, the Chief Minister is scheduled to pay tribute to the statue of Constitution architect B. R. Ambedkar before participating in a special पूजा at the Chief Minister’s designated chamber.

Adhikari had taken oath as Chief Minister on Saturday from the Brigade Parade Ground stage in Kolkata. Governor R. N. Ravi administered the oath of office and secrecy to him along with five other ministers.

For the past five years, Adhikari had served as the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly. Wednesday will mark his first official appearance in the House as Chief Minister.

Following Adhikari’s oath, members of the state cabinet will take oath, after which the remaining MLAs will be sworn in in phases over Wednesday and Thursday.

On Wednesday, legislators elected from North Bengal and Murshidabad will take oath during the first half of the day, while MLAs from Nadia and the two 24 Parganas districts will be sworn in during the second half.

On Thursday, MLAs from Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Purba Medinipur and Jhargram will take oath in the first session. Legislators from Paschim Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura, Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Bardhaman and Birbhum districts will be sworn in later in the day.

Assembly sources said that since Suvendu Adhikari and Humayun Kabir won from two constituencies each, and Tapas Roy has already taken oath as pro tem Speaker, a total of 290 MLAs are currently expected to take oath.

During Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony of the pro tem Speaker at Lok Bhavan, senior BJP leaders including minister Dilip Ghosh and Sports Minister Nishith Pramanik were present along with several BJP MLAs.

Adhikari attended the event after returning from the swearing-in ceremony of Himanta Biswa Sarma in Assam earlier in the day.

Political observers are also closely watching whether Tapas Roy may later be formally elected Speaker of the Assembly. Parliamentary convention requires a pro tem Speaker to resign before contesting for the Speaker’s post, similar to the precedent followed by Somnath Chatterjee in 2004.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh