Trinamool Congress will support the candidature of Mukul Roy as the chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee ( PAC) in the State Assembly, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday.
Mr. Roy had joined the Trinamool Congress earlier this month after being associated with the BJP for over three years and a half.
The development comes at a time when the BJP has written to the Assembly Speaker seeking Mr. Roy’s disqualification as an MLA. Mr. Roy had contested and won the recently-concluded Assembly polls from Krishnanagar Uttar Assembly seat.
“The Speaker's decision is final in such matters. If anyone has an issue, there can be voting in the Assembly,” the Chief Minister said.
Trinamool Congress won 213 seats in the 2021 Assembly polls and the BJP 77 seats.
The decision to appoint Mr. Roy as the PAC chairperson will not only help accommodate the veteran politician in a key post, but also prevent a BJP legislator occupying the post. With the Chief Minister publicly announcing her support for Mr. Roy, his appointment as PAC chairperson is almost certain. Usually, the post of chairperson of the PAC is reserved for a member of the Opposition parties.
On Wednesday, Mr. Roy filed his nomination for the post. Ruden Lepcha, Kalimpong MLA and a leader of the Binay Tamang faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), supported his nomination.
The BJP leadership said the development proved that Trinamool Congress did not follow Constitutional norms. “Mukul Roy has no moral, political or constitutional right to be an MLA. So how did he submit his nomination for the chairman of Public Accounts Committee?” the party’s spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya said.
