Kolkata, October 3, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, objecting to the appointment of the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers, citing pending disqualification petitions against the member appointed to the post.
In his letter, Banerjee questioned the party affiliation under which the chairmanship had been allotted, arguing that the member concerned was among 20 MPs facing disqualification proceedings under the Tenth Schedule.
Banerjee said that in letters dated September 23, 2026, he had requested that these members be excluded from consideration for Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee (DRSC) appointments until the petitions were decided.
The objection follows the removal of two Lok Sabha members from the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress faction from their earlier positions as heads of parliamentary standing committees.
Banerjee pointed out that the Digital Sansad website lists 28 Lok Sabha members as belonging to the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). However, he said the newly appointed chairperson claimed affiliation with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) through a purported merger that remains disputed in the pending disqualification proceedings.
He asked the Speaker to clarify whether the chairmanship had been allotted to the AITC or the NCPI and, if the latter, under which order the party’s affiliation had been recognised. Banerjee argued that the NCPI’s reported association with the NDA could not resolve the question of party affiliation under the Tenth Schedule.
Describing the appointment as contrary to parliamentary propriety, Banerjee urged Birla to withdraw it, restore the chairmanship to the AITC’s nominated member, decide the pending disqualification petitions at the earliest and provide a written response to the questions raised.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien has separately written to the Speaker regarding the reconstitution of Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees for 2026-27.
O’Brien said the AITC had not been allotted the chairpersonship of any of the eight standing committees under the Rajya Sabha’s jurisdiction, despite being the third-largest party in the Upper House, after the BJP and Congress.
He noted that the party had held a committee chairpersonship in 2024-25 and 2025-26, but had now lost that representation. O’Brien also recalled that the AITC had faced a similar situation in 2019, when it was also the third-largest party in the Rajya Sabha, before the arrangement was subsequently changed.
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