The chairmanship of Parliament’s Information and Technology (IT) standing committee is being taken away from the Congress, party leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, has alleged in a letter to Speaker Om Birla.
He also raised concerns that the Congress may lose the chairmanship of the home affairs panel as well.
In his letter, a copy of which HT has seen, Chowdhury said he was “dismayed” to learn from parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi that “a decision has been taken to withdraw the allocation of the role of chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, which, as you know, is chaired by Dr Shashi Tharoor of the Indian National Congress.”
The Congress leader questioned the intent behind the move and argued that while a similar position is being taken away in the Rajya Sabha, on the pretext that the Congress has reduced in the Upper House, “there has been no such change in the Lok Sabha, which raises ominous questions about the real intent behind such a decision.”
On September 17, HT had reported that the Congress may struggle to retain the chairmanship of the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs, considered one of the key House panels, led by Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Singhvi, in an upcoming reshuffle.
{{/usCountry}}On September 17, HT had reported that the Congress may struggle to retain the chairmanship of the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs, considered one of the key House panels, led by Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Singhvi, in an upcoming reshuffle.
{{/usCountry}}The government’s decision on the chairmanship of the concerned panels is “uncanny” and is a departure from existing conventions, Chowdhury said.
“There is no extenuating reason for this repeated attempt to dilute the role of the principal Opposition party in the Lok Sabha. The government must understand that both the principle of deliberation and consultation, as well as conventions that encourage bipartisan cooperation within the functioning of critical bodies like DSRCs, must be honoured,” he added.
Chowdhury termed the move “extremely unusual” even as some members of the IT panel, including BJP’s Nishikant Dubey, petitioned several times against Tharoor’s chairmanship in the past.
Officials indicated the Congress is eligible to get a chairman’s position in one of the 16 House panels under the Lok Sabha and would be allotted some other panel.
The reconstitution of the panels, an annual practice, is likely to take place later this month.
The party currently leads three standing committees – home affairs, IT and environment and science. After the reshuffle, it will lead just two panels.
The principal opposition party lost the chairmanship of the House panels on external affairs and finance after the two committees were revamped soon after the 2019 general elections.