Puja, fish meal mark dramatic start to Bengal Assembly’s new political chapter

The inaugural day of the oath-taking ceremony of the new West Bengal MLAs on Wednesday was marked by a series of unprecedented events, including a puja within the Assembly premises and a state-sponsored fish meal for the legislators.

Together, the symbolic gestures lent the Assembly proceedings a distinctive cultural and ideological character, while also offering a latent statement on the opposition’s pre-poll warnings of a crackdown on people’s non-vegetarian food habits by the saffron dispensation.

As many as 143 MLAs of the 294-member House, including Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, were sworn in at the state Assembly on the first of the two-day scheduled ceremony, with pro tem Speaker, Tapas Roy administering the oaths.

The legislators who took their oaths belonged to both the treasury and the opposition benches and included the newly-appointed state ministers of the state’s first BJP government – Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania, Kshudiram Tudu, and Nisith Pramanik.

Former Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee and Kamarhati MLA Madan Mitra were among those who were sworn in from the opposition Trinamool Congress camp, while BJP’s Ratna Debnath, mother of the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder victim, and actor-politician Roopa Ganguly were also among those officially inducted to the House.

Adhikari, who set foot inside the Assembly for the first time as chief minister, was accorded a literal red-carpet welcome by means of an official guard of honour.

The chief minister reciprocated the gesture by offering floral tributes at the statue of BR Ambedkar and then, before climbing the staircase at the Assembly portico, which leads to the building’s grand hall, by kneeling down and touching his forehead to the ground as a mark of reverence to the haloed edifice.

Adhikari followed up his move by offering a puja at his chamber, an occurrence without precedent in the state’s legislative history. The ceremony was marked by the chief minister himself sounding the ritual hand bell, while sounds from a conch shell shattered the Assembly air.

“The Assembly is the temple of democracy,” the CM later said, adding, “Here we will work for the people with transparency. There will be no secrets in this House.”

“I have been told by many TMC leaders that, at last, they have won their freedom,” Adhikari said, without further explanation.

A broad, unmistakably triumphant smile lit up the chief minister’s face as the pro tem Speaker rose to announce, at the close of the first half of the day’s proceedings, that a special 'Machh-Bhat' (fish curry-rice) luncheon awaited all newly elected legislators.

Far more than a simple meal, the gesture carried layers of political symbolism and cultural messaging, transforming an otherwise routine announcement into a carefully choreographed spectacle of identity, tradition, and power.

The Assembly’s charged atmosphere acquired an altogether different flavour when newly formed Aam Janata Unnayan Party chief Humayun Kabir made a dramatic entry carrying boxloads of sweets, injecting an unexpected burst of festivity into a day otherwise dominated by political symbolism and power play.

Having fought a bruising and acrimonious electoral battle against both the BJP and the TMC in Murshidabad and emerging victorious from both Naoda and Reginagar, Kabir appeared determined to trade bitterness for bonhomie, at least for the day.

Moving through the Assembly hall ahead of the oath-taking ceremony, Kabir was seen personally distributing local delicacies among legislators across party lines, momentarily dissolving the hard edges of political rivalry in an aroma of sugar and nostalgia.

The sight of rival lawmakers accepting sweets from a leader who had only weeks earlier been locked in fierce electoral combat added a surreal, almost theatrical touch to the day's developments.

Kabir revealed that he had arranged nearly 150 pieces of the famed ‘Monohora Sandesh’ from Janai in Hooghly, alongside 400 pieces of the legendary ‘Chanabora’ from Baharampur – two iconic Bengali sweetmeats that quickly became the unlikely stars of the Assembly corridors.

“Sweets bring joy to the mind,” Kabir declared to reporters with a flourish.

“There has been enough political bitterness. It is now time to savour delicacies and end the bickering on a sweet note. I have brought sweets for both the ruling BJP and the opposition parties,” he said.

In yet another striking image from the day’s proceedings, Kabir was seen warmly embracing the chief minister in the Assembly lobby, a gesture that underscored the curious mix of rivalry, reconciliation and political theatre defining the opening chapter of Bengal’s new political era.

“I hope the new government functions properly for all people and ensures that no one faces hardship,” he added.

Before the day ended, minister Dilip Ghosh was also seen distributing ‘laddoos’ at the Assembly premises, in celebration of the saffron party’s electoral whitewash in the state.