Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will be its candidate for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), and once formally elected, he is expected to head the panel.
Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi will take the final call once short listing of names is complete, said sources.
The principal Opposition party on Monday started the process for various committees.
The PAC is one of the most important committees as it audits the Union government’s revenue and expenditure and is conventionally headed by an Opposition leader.
It consists of a maximum of 22 members, 15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha elected every year according to the principle of proportional representation.
Going by the strength in the Lower House, two members are likely to be elected from the Congress alliance. The DMK is the other party that can get its member elected.
Elected for a year, the PAC Chairman enjoys important facilities including an office space in the main Parliament complex.
With 52 MPs, the party failed to get official position of the Leader of the Opposition that entailed such facilities.
In the previous Lok Sabha as well, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge headed the parliamentary committee that scrutinises important documents like the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) reports.
The Chairman’s role would be crucial for the party as the newly constituted PAC would be examining the CAG report on the Rafale deal and has the power to summon the CAG.
Panel on finance
Another important panel headed by an Opposition MP is the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance. It was headed by M. Verrappa Moily but now the party will have to look for a new chairman as he had lost his election.
Sources said the Congress would seek to accommodate MPs from Kerala and Punjab, where it fared well.
