Bengal: Kanaia Lal Agarwal to head PAC in Assembly
Kolkata, Aug 4
Ending speculation, the Assembly Secretariat has finalised the name of an MLA from the opposition camp for the post of chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the Assembly.
Sources in the Assembly Secretariat said on Tuesday that Kanaia Lal Agarwal, an MLA from the rebel but majority faction of Trinamool Congress led by Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee, will be made the chairman of the PAC.
Agarwal became an MLA after winning the state Assembly election from Islampur constituency under the Trinamool Congress symbol. Later, when the party split due to internal conflicts, he joined the rebel camp of Trinamool MLAs led by Ritabrata Banerjee.
According to Assembly sources, there are a total of 20 members in the Assembly PAC. Out of them, 14 are from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and six are from the opposition camp. Kanaia Lal Agarwal is among the six opposition MLAs.
BJP has decided to give the chairmanship of 10 committees out of the total 41 committees of the Assembly to the opposition camp.
The chairman of one of the committees will be Nawsad Siddiqui, the only ISF MLA from Bhangar. The remaining nine committee chairmen will be MLAs from the rebel Trinamool camp.
Although the MLAs of the original but minority faction of Trinamool have been made members of various committees, none of them will be made chairman of any committee, according to Assembly sources.
Incidentally, it is alleged that during the Trinamool government era, there was a tradition of making opposition MLAs the chairman of the PAC. After Congress MLA Manas Bhunia left the Congress and joined the Trinamool, he was made the chairman of the PAC. Later, when he became a Rajya Sabha MP, another MLA, Shankar Singh, who had left the Congress and joined the Trinamool, was appointed to the post.
Later, when BJP MLA Mukul Roy joined the Trinamool, he was also made the chairman of the PAC. After Mukul Roy stepped down from the post, Krishna Kalyani, who had left the BJP and joined the Trinamool, was given the responsibility.
Later, Krishna had to resign as a Trinamool candidate from the Raiganj constituency in the Lok Sabha elections. At that time, Alipurduar MLA Suman Kanjilal, who had left the BJP and joined the Trinamool, was made the chairman of the PAC.
However, this time, there has been a change in that tradition. It has been decided to make Kanaia Lal Agarwal, an MLA from the rebel camp of Trinamool, the PAC chairman, and not an opposition MLA who has joined the BJP.
— IANS
Reader Comments
At least this time they're following the convention of giving PAC to opposition. But making a rebel TMC MLA the chairman feels like BJP is trying to divide the opposition further. Classic political game. 😏
People forget that PAC used to be powerful once. Under Left Front, it did real work. Now it's just a rubber stamp. Whether it's TMC or BJP, nobody wants genuine scrutiny of public money. The common man suffers.
The tradition of giving PAC to opposition is good democracy. But why is BJP giving 10 committees to opposition? Are they trying to show they are democratic? Or are they just trying to manage the rebel TMC MLAs who switched sides? 😕
Bengal politics is so confusing now. Rebel TMC, original TMC, BJP, ISF - too many factions. Poor people just want development and jobs, but all these leaders are busy playing musical chairs. PAC chairman or not, ground reality won't change.
Good that opposition is getting PAC. But the real question is - will Kanaia Lal Agarwal actually question government spending? Or will he just be a puppet like many before him? Actions speak louder than words. Let's wait and watch.
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