MAITC writes to Rajya Sabha Chairman over exclusion from parliamentary panel chairs

The All India Trinamool Congress faction that backs former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Saturday (October 3, 2026) wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan, protesting its exclusion from the chairpersonship of any Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees.

The party’s Lok Sabha leader Abhishek Banerjee and Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien have written separate letters to the presiding officers of their respective Houses. The Trinamool Congress had earlier chaired the Standing Committees on Commerce and on Chemicals and Fertilizers.

“The member appointed, however, claims affiliation with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) through a purported merger disputed in the pending disqualification proceedings,” Mr. Banerjee said.

In his letter to Mr. Birla, Mr. Banerjee objected to the appointment of Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar as Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers, questioning under which party affiliation the chairmanship had been allotted. He noted that the Digital Sansad website continues to show 28 Lok Sabha members belonging to the AITC.

NCPI’s reported association with the NDA cannot settle the question of affiliation under the Tenth Schedule, he argued. That question requires a decision in the pending proceedings. Appointing a member to a committee chairmanship while leaving the member’s disputed affiliation undecided is, according to the AITC, contrary to parliamentary propriety.

“This appointment cannot be treated as a chairmanship allotted to AITC,” he said.

In his letter, Mr. O’Brien pointed out that the Trinamool Congress had chaired a committee in both 2024-25 and 2025-26, but has now been denied any chairpersonship.

Mr. O’Brien said this was not the first such instance. In 2019, when the Trinamool Congress was also the third-largest party in the House, it was denied a committee chair, he said, adding that the situation was corrected a few years later. “Now it is back to square one,” he wrote. “Parliament is being turned into a deep, dark chamber,” he argued.

To support his contention, Mr. O’Brien cited four trends. Between 2004 and 2009, six out of every ten Bills were referred to parliamentary committees for scrutiny, compared with only two out of every ten between 2019 and 2024. Four out of every ten Bills passed now originate as Ordinances, compared with two out of every ten 20 years ago. Parliament sat for an average of 45 days per session in the first Lok Sabha and 36 days in the second and third Lok Sabhas, whereas the average in the 17^th Lok Sabha (2019-24) was 18 days. He also pointed out that the post of Deputy Speaker in the Lok Sabha has remained vacant since 2019.

“Sir, I humbly rest my case,” Mr. O’Brien concluded.

The Trinamool Congress has contended that the Election Commission allotted separate names and symbols to the rival factions following the party split as an “interim order”. The Trinamool Congress continues to function as a single parliamentary party in Parliament. The party maintains this position pending Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s decision on a petition filed by the Mamata Banerjee-led faction challenging the recognition of the rival group.