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Mukul Roy eligible for assembly committee as BJP MLA, says Mamata Banerjee
According to rules, it is the discretion of the speaker to select the chairpersons of the various committees in the assembly. The BJP wants Ashok Lahiri, the former chief economic adviser to the government of India who won the Balurghat seat in north Bengal, to be the PAC chairman.
Being a legislator of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Mukul Roy can become a member of the public accounts committee (PAC) of the West Bengal legislative assembly, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday, stoking speculations that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) wants Roy to be the committee’s chairman, a post conventionally enjoyed by the main opposition party.
The BJP and TMC got involved in a tussle on Wednesday when Roy, who left the saffron camp and returned to the ruling party on June 11, filed his nomination for induction into the PAC. On June 18, the BJP submitted a petition before speaker Biman Banerjee, saying Roy, the legislator from Krishnanagar North constituency in Nadia district, should be disqualified under the anti-defection law as he did not resign from the BJP before switching sides. The Bengal assembly has 41 committees and among them the PAC, which works as the audit watchdog for the assembly is considered the most important one.
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“Anybody can file nomination papers for inclusion in the PAC. He (Roy) is a BJP member. He has been supported by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. If required, we will support him too. We will win if there is an election. Let people see who is more powerful. The speaker takes these decisions,” Banerjee told the media during a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
According to rules, it is the discretion of the speaker to select the chairpersons of the various committees in the assembly. The BJP wants Ashok Lahiri, the former chief economic adviser to the government of India who won the Balurghat seat in north Bengal, to be the PAC chairman.
The BJP on Thursday submitted a letter to the speaker saying Roy’s nomination should be cancelled because the party did not nominate him. Stating that the BJP may seek legal action, the letter said Roy should be disqualified under the anti-defection law.
The decision to disqualify a member is taken only by the speaker. The Constitution does not specify any time frame for the process which involves inquiry and setting up of a committee.
Mamata Banerjee’s protege-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari, who joined the BJP in December last year and defeated her in the assembly polls, is the leader of the opposition in the Bengal assembly. He filed the application for Roy’s disqualification. Roy, who joined the BJP in 2017 and became the party’s national vice-president, returned to the TMC along with his son Subhranshu Roy, but did not officially resign from the BJP, said opposition leaders.
Reacting to the chief minister’s statement, BJP state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar said, “Let Mamata Banerjee decide first which party Roy belongs to. She says he has returned to the TMC but when it comes to a post she says he is a BJP member in the assembly. In her kingdom, she is the one who decides everything.”
Roy avoided the media and could not be contacted despite several attempts.
The speaker said on Wednesday that six BJP MLAs have filed their nomination for the PAC. Nominations have been filed for other committees as well. “It seems elections will be held in four committees as the number of candidates exceeds the strength of these committees. Elections were never held in the past for these posts as the candidatures were amicably decided through discussion,” the speaker said.
