Mamata’s assembly chamber chair removed, new CM Suvendu to have another seat

The chair used by former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in the state Assembly for the past 15 years has been shifted to the opposition leaders room following the change of government in the state, a senior official said on Saturday.

The chair used by former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in the state Assembly for the past 15 years has been shifted to the opposition leader's room following the change of government in the state, a senior official said on Saturday. Suvendu Adhikari, the BJP leader who was sworn in as the CM during the day, would not use the chair occupied by his predecessor, and a different seat has been arranged in the chief minister's chamber, the official said. The wooden chair was shifted on Friday night as part of the administrative rearrangement after the new government took over. The room where Banerjee's chair has now been placed is expected to be used by the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, officials added. ''As per established protocol, the previous chief minister's designated furniture and official markers were removed. Necessary modifications are being carried out for the new administration,'' a senior state bureaucrat told PTI. The official nameplate outside Banerjee's chamber was also removed in accordance with procedure, sources said. Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress supremo, was defeated by Adhikari in the Bhabanipur assembly constituency in south Kolkata. Meanwhile, a new nameplate bearing Adhikari's name has been installed outside the chief minister's chamber in the assembly. This room has served as the chamber of several past chief ministers of West Bengal. ''The changes are largely procedural. They reflect the formal transition of administrative authority after the formation of the new government,'' another senior official in the Assembly secretariat said.