India, May 14 -- 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 o...