Congress, TMC raise issue of denial of Parliament panel chairmanship in Lok Sabha

In a reconstitution of parliamentary panels, notified by secretariats of both LS and RS, chairpersons of several committees were changed in Congress

The Congress and Trinamool Congress on Wednesday raised the issue of the two parties being denied parliamentary standing committee chairmanship as has been the convention in the past.

Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha on the first day of the winter session of Parliament, Leader of Congress Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and TMC leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay flagged changes made in the composition of the committees in October.

"The convention of appointing chairman of parliamentary committees from opposition parties is being done away with," Chowdhury said.

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Bandyopadhyay said that despite the TMC being one of the largest parties in the Lok Sabha, it was informed by the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry that it will not be given the chairmanship of any committee.

In a reconstitution of parliamentary panels, notified by secretariats of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, chairpersons of several committees were changed in the Congress.

The Congress and TMC had lost the chairmanship of four key parliamentary panels including the committee on Home Affairs and Information Technology, and no longer head any major committee.

With the rejig in composition brought in by the Lok Sabha in October, the chairpersons of the six major parliamentary committees – home, IT, defence, external affairs, finance and health – belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies.