 In May 2011, the Trinamool MLA from Baruipur Paschim and practicing lawyer was elected as Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly unopposed, as the Opposition did not nominate a candidate for the post.After the election, he took a decision to give more importance to the sensitivities of the opposition and promised to give them more time to speak, on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's advice, a decision which was welcomed by the Leader of the Opposition, Suryakanta Mishra.After Biman Banerjee was elected, he was taken to the Speaker's Chair by Mishra, Prabodh Chandra Sinha and Subhas Naskar, where he engaged in the protocol of exchanging courtesies with the outgoing speaker, Hashim Abdul Halim.