Bengal Assembly’s first Speaker from north Bengal, Rathindra Bose, returned home to a rousing reception in Cooch Behar town on Sunday, with hundreds of BJP supporters and residents lining the streets to greet him after his elevation to the constitutional post.

Fresh from being elected Speaker after his name was proposed by chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, Bose took out a gratitude rally through Cooch Behar town, standing atop a hoodless vehicle before offering puja at the Madan Mohan Temple, greeting people with folded hands.

“North Bengal is quite a favourite place of the leader of the nation, Narendra Modi. The BJP government has a number of development plans for north Bengal. Our party will strive to develop north Bengal unprecedentedly,” Bose said, thanking people for the warm reception accorded to him.

People gathered in large numbers on both sides of the roads as Bose's rally passed through different parts of the town.

BJP workers accompanied the Speaker throughout the procession.

A first-time MLA from the Cooch Behar Dakshin Assembly seat, Bose is regarded as one of the BJP’s key organisational faces in north Bengal. He has also been associated with the RSS since his early days.

An alumnus of Cooch Behar B.T. & Evening College, Bose has an impressive academic background. Apart from being a successful chartered accountant, he had secured fifth position in the all-India cost accountancy examinations. He lived in London for a few years before returning to India.

Bose settled in Siliguri and began practising as a chartered accountant, though he remained closely connected to his ancestral home in the Debibari area of Cooch Behar.