Bengal assembly: Row after turncoat BJP MLA made PAC chief

Reacting on the development, Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya accused the speaker of violating rules.

Krishna Kalyani, the Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from Raiganj in West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district who joined the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in October 2021, was on Monday made chairman of the public accounts committee (PAC) of the legislative assembly.

The appointment, made by speaker Biman Banerjee, was opposed by the BJP. (HT Photo)

The appointment, made by speaker Biman Banerjee, was opposed by the BJP.

Kalyani is among the five BJP legislators who have switched sides since last year’s assembly polls without officially resigning from the party.

Reacting on the development, Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya accused the speaker of violating rules.

“The speaker has singlehandedly led an assault on the rules and traditions of parliamentary democracy,” said Bhattacharya.

While the speaker was not available for comments on Monday, Kalyani said a controversy was being unnecessarily created.

“Since I have been appointed the PAC chairman, my job is to do the work sincerely. There is no reason to create a controversy,” Kalyani said.

The post had fallen vacant after Mukul Roy — who joined the BJP in 2017 only to return to his previous party, the TMC, in June last year — resigned recently.

Roy’s appointment as PAC chairman was challenged by the BJP, which not only demanded his disqualification as legislator under the anti-defection law but also moved the Calcutta high court, which left the matter to the speaker.

On June 8, the speaker announced that Roy is still a member of the BJP, reiterating his February 11 verdict that dismissed the petition filed by Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the assembly, seeking Roy’s disqualification.

Though the BJP won 77 of Bengal’s 294 assembly seats in the 2021 assembly elections, the party’s effective tally has come down to 70 because of the five turncoat MLAs and the loss of two seats in bypolls held last year after two winners opted to retain their Lok Sabha seats and did not take oath as legislators.

Kalyani, an industrialist, joined the BJP in January 2021. He became a rebel within months causing an embarrassment for the saffron camp.