A fresh controversy over the chair of West Bengal assembly’s public accounts committee (PAC) erupted on Tuesday as Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee reportedly chose yet another turncoat legislator for the post.

Kolkata, June 28, 2022: A fresh controversy over the chair of West Bengal assembly’s public accounts committee (PAC) erupted on Tuesday as Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee reportedly chose yet another turncoat legislator for the post.

The post of the PAC chairman became vacant after Mukul Roy, officially still a BJP legislator, resigned from the chair on health grounds on Monday and his resignation was accepted by the Speaker on Tuesday.

However, state assembly sources said that the speaker has in-principle decided on Krishna Kalyani, who like Roy, is still an elected BJP legislator. Kalyani got elected as a BJP legislator in the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls from Raigunj assembly constituency in North Dinajpur district in West Bengal. However, in October last year he joined Trinamool Congress stating that anti-people policies of the Union government were the reasons behind his decision. However, till date he has officially continued to be elected BJP legislator from Raigunj.

On Monday, after the information about Roy’s resignation from the post of chairman became public, it was perceived that the action was prompted to bring an end to the controversies over the PAC chairman’s post, which as per tradition is always held by a legislator from the opposition bench. However, with Krishna Kalyani’s name being floated for that chair it is now obvious that the controversies on this issue will continue in the coming days as well.

BJP state leaders, however, gave guarded statements on Krishna Kalyani’s name being floated as the new PAC chairman. “Let the name be first officially announced and then only we will announce our next course of action,” BJP’s national vice president and a party MP told IANS.

According to political analyst and former registrar of Calcutta University, Dr Rajagopal Dhar Chakraborty, it is the speaker’s prerogative on who will be appointed as the PAC chairman from among the opposition legislators. “So, both in the case of Roy or Kalyani, apparently there is no diversion from the tradition since both Roy and Kalyani are still BJP legislators officially. However, to my opinion these controversies would not have risen if anyone who has been officially recommended by the opposition party would have been appointed,” he said.