Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee writes to Om Birla, objecting to appointment of Chairperson of Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers

Kolkata, Oct 3 (SocialNews.XYZ) Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, raising objection to the appointment of Chairperson of the Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers.

In the letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Abhishek Banerjee wanted to know under which party affiliation has this chairmanship been allotted as their disqualification process is pending.

"I write to object to the appointment of the Chairperson of the Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers... The Member appointed is among the twenty members against whom disqualification petitions remain pending before you under the Tenth Schedule. In my letters dated September 23, 2026, I expressly requested that these Members be kept out of consideration for DRSC appointments until the petitions were decided."

The move from Abhishek Banerjee came after two Lok Sabha members from the "original but minority" faction in the Trinamool Congress led by the former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday were removed from their earlier positions leading two Parliamentary Standing Committees.

The Trinamool MP also said, "The appointment disregards both our objection and our nomination. The Digital Sansad website continues to show 28 Lok Sabha Members belonging to All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). The Member appointed, however, claims affiliation with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) through a purported merger disputed in the pending disqualification proceedings. Under which party affiliation has this chairmanship been allotted? If it has been allotted to AITC, on what basis has the party's nominee been replaced against its express wishes? If it has been allotted to NCPI, under what order has that affiliation been recognised, and on what basis has NCPI been given the chairmanship?"

The Mamata All India Trinamool Congress leader said that NCPI's reported association with the NDA cannot settle the question of affiliation under the Tenth Schedule.

"That question requires a decision in the pending proceedings. Appointing a Member to a chairmanship while leaving the Member's disputed affiliation undecided is, in our submission, contrary to Parliamentary propriety. This appointment cannot be treated as a chairmanship allotted to AITC," Abhishek Banerjee added.

The Trinamool Congress MP said, "I request that the appointment be withdrawn and the chairmanship restored to AITC's duly nominated Member. I also request an early decision on the pending disqualification petitions and a written response to the questions raised above."

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien, too, wrote a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker on re-constitution of Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees.

"Are we turning Parliament into a deep, dark chamber. Respected Chairman, in Parliamentary Bulletin II, published on October 3, the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees have been reconstituted for 2026-27. Out of the eight Parliamentary Standing Committees within the jurisdiction of Rajya Sabha, the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) has not been accorded the Chairpersonship of even one Committee," O'Brien said in the letter.

"In Rajya Sabha, the BJP is the largest party, followed by the Congress (second largest) and AITC (third largest). And yet, the Chairpersonship, which we held in 2024-25 and 2025-26, has been taken away. This is not the first time we (AITC) have been treated in this manner! In 2019, when we were also the third largest party in Rajya Sabha, we were deprived. That was rectified a few years later and now it is back to square one," he added.

Source: IANS