News Analysis India

Tag: Mukul Roy

  • Suvendu Adhikari attends hearing on Mukul Roy’s disqualification plea, says BJP may move court

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Friday attended the hearing on a petition seeking Mukul Roy’s disqualification as an MLA at Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay’s chamber, and said that a decision should be taken in the matter at the earliest.

    He also said that the saffron party may move the court, if necessary.

    Adhikari had recently submitted a 64-page document to the speaker demanding immediate disqualification of Roy as MLA under the anti-defection law on the grounds that he has won an assembly seat on a BJP ticket but switched over to the TMC shortly after.

    The BJP MLA from Nandigram, along with other legislators, had staged a walkout in the Assembly last week in protest against Roy’s appointment as Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman.

    Emerging out of the speaker’s chamber, on the premises of the Assembly, Adhikari told reporters, “We would want a specific time frame within which the hearing will be completed. We want Roy to get disqualified as soon as possible. We are considering our legal options. The party may move the court.”

    The senior BJP leader, who had also switched camps ahead of the state elections, said all documents, audio clips and video footage backing our demand have been placed before the speaker.

    “We have already provided a 64-page dossier to the office of the speaker. The process of hearing should not take too long. We have great respect for the speaker’s chair but past experiences have made us sceptics.

    “Over the last 10 years, there had been at least 50 cases of such defections in West Bengal. Not much happened. We don’t have confidence in this (TMC) government.”Adhikari further said that July 30 has been fixed as the next date of hearing.

    Asked about the development during Friday’s hearing, he said, “The BJP will not go into technicalities. We have been asked to attend the hearing again on July 30.”

    in the Assembly said the speaker sought certain clarifications from Adhikari during the hearing. Roy, however, but didn’t talk to media persons after the hearing. The legislator attended a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee as its chairman, during the day.

    No BJP MlA was present at the session.

    TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, when approached, said the speaker has just taken cognizance of the complaint against Mukul Roy.

    “There is no question of any acknowledgment of the BJP’s stand by the speaker. The hearing has only begun,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

    He further hailed the move of Lok Sabha secretariat to send notices to turncoat MPs Sisir Adhikari and Sunil Mondal, who crossed over to the BJP from the TMC before the polls.

    “Our party has sought the disqualification of Adhikari and Mondal as MPs to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. We are happy that the process to hear their cases has started. Let’s hope for a positive outcome,” the TMC deputy leader in the Upper House said.

  • 8 Bengal BJP MLAs quit as heads of House panels over Mukul Roy’s appointment as PAC chairman

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: The face-off between the ruling TMC and BJP continued after eight MLAs from the opposition party resigned on Tuesday from the post of chairman of eight committees of the West Bengal Assembly over the issue of Mukul Roy’s appointment as the chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) by the Speaker. 

    Among the eight, six were chairmen of standing committees.

    On July 9, Roy, who recently quit the BJP and rejoin the TMC, was appointed as the PAC chairman, and soon after, there was uproar in the Assembly as BJP lawmakers staged a demonstration and walked out alleging that conventionally, the post is meant for the opposition party MLAs.    

    Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari accused the TMC of violating the norms by announcing Roy’s name as PAC chairman. The BJP wanted party MLA from Balurghat, Ashok Lahiri, former chief economic advisor to the Centre, to be the PAC chairman.

    The BJP MLAs also met governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday afternoon and handed him over a memorandum protesting Roy’s appointment.

  • Suvendu Adhikari, other BJP MLAs meet Bengal Governor over Mukul Roy’s appointment as PAC chief

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday met Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar seeking his intervention in MLA Mukul Roy’s appointment as the chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC), maintaining that norms were not followed.

    Adhikari stated that Roy, who switched over to the ruling TMC after winning the assembly polls on a BJP ticket, should no longer be considered a member of the saffron camp, and his elevation as PAC chairman defies the well-established norm of appointing an opposition leader to the post.

    Claiming that the TMC wants to be its own judge, Adhikari alleged that the ruling party has ensured that its member gets chosen as the chief of PAC a panel that keeps a tab on government expenses to hide “questionable” pursuits.

    “We met the governor and sought his intervention as he is the custodian of the Constitution,” Adhikari, who led a delegation of BJP MLAs to Raj Bhavan, told reporters.

    Earlier in the day, eight BJP MLAs resigned as heads of Assembly panels in protest against Roy’s appointment.

    The leader of opposition further said that his party wishes to meet President Ram Nath Kovind and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and submit memoranda “describing how democracy is being throttled by the TMC in West Bengal with post-poll violence and unfair practices in the assembly”.

    He pointed out that Roy’s name did not figure in the list of six MLAs given by the BJP for the PAC chairman’s post.

    The BJP had been seeking disqualification of Roy as a legislator under the anti-defection law, arguing that he changes sides after his election to the assembly.

    Adhikari said that the hearing of the BJP’s application for Roy’s disqualification is scheduled to be held before the Speaker on July 16.

    Claiming that the by-polls should not be conducted in the state until the process of vaccination is over, the BJP leader said the TMC, however, is “worried” as Banerjee needs to get elected to the assembly to retain the CM’s chair.

    Adhikari defeated Banerjee in Nandigram by 1,956 votes, according to the Election Commission.

    Banerjee has moved a petition before the Calcutta High Court challenging Adhikari’s win.

  • Eight BJP MLAs quit as House panel heads to protest Mukul Roy’s appointment as PAC chief

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Eight BJP legislators on Tuesday resigned as heads of various Assembly panels in protest against MLA Mukul Roy’s appointment as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

    Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari objected to Roy’s elevation, arguing that the MLA, who had crossed over to the ruling TMC last month after winning the polls on a BJP ticket, cannot be considered a legislator of the saffron camp.

    As per norms, a legislator of the main opposition party is made the PAC chairperson, and Roy hasn’t quit as a BJP MLA in the House, despite switching camps.

    Manoj Tigga, one of the saffron camp legislators, said after resigning from a standing committee that “Roy’s appointment is undemocratic and a naked display of partisan politics. In protest, we have decided to step down.”

    Led by Adhikari, the eight MLAs, including Mihir Goswami, Bhisma Prasad Sharma and Tigga, later visited Raj Bhavan to apprise Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar of the “blatant violation of democratic norms by the ruling party”.

    TMC deputy chief whip in the House, Tapas Roy, in response, said it was a decision of the saffron camp, and he wouldn’t want to comment on that.

    “Appointments for any assembly panel should be left to the discretion of the speaker, who did go by the rule in this case. It has to be kept in mind that the BJP had been plotting to topple democratically elected governments all over the country to capture power. They don’t have any right to speak on democratic values,” the Baranagar TMC MLA said.

    BJP MLAs had staged a walkout in the Assembly on July 9 after Roy was made the chief of PAC, which keeps a tab on government spending.

    “This government does not let the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) conduct audits. It just wants its own people to know where it is spending,” Adhikari had said at a press meet after the walkout.

    He further said that BJP had pitched economist and party MLA Ashok Lahiri as PAC chairperson, but the speaker went by TMC’s recommendation and appointed Roy.

  • Mukul Roy appointed as chief of Public Accounts Committee in Bengal Assembly, BJP stages walkout

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Senior Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy, who recently switched over to the ruling camp in Bengal after winning the assembly polls on a BJP ticket, was on Friday appointed as the chairperson of Public Accounts Committee in the Assembly by Speaker Biman Banerjee.

    BJP MLAs, led by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, staged a walkout in the Assembly, protesting against this decision. Roy, officially a BJP MLA from Krishnanagar Uttar, joined the TMC last month. However, he did not resign as an MLA, despite being asked to do so several times by the saffron party.

    The TMC leader was elected as a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in June. Adhikari said that an opposition MLA is usually appointed as the PAC chairman in accordance with the norm, but the TMC misused that rule to appoint Roy as its chairman.

  • TMC leader Mukul Roy’s wife Krishna Roy passes away

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy’s wife Krishna Roy died at a private hospital in Chennai on Tuesday, family sources said.She died of cardiac arrest.

    Krishna Roy was suffering from post-Covid complications for a long time. She was taken to Chennai from Kolkata sometime back. She is survived by her husband and son Subhrabgshu.

    Her body will be brought to West Bengal on Wednesday, sources said.

    West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar condoled her death. Banerjee, also the TMC supremo, visited the MLA at his residence in the afternoon.

    TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, who is known to be close to Krishna Roy, also paid a visit to the family in the evening. “Heartfelt condolences @MukulR_Official Mukul Roy, Former Union Minister and MLA, WBLA on the sad demise of his wife Mrs. Krishna Roy. Pray Almighty to bestow eternal peace on departed soul and strength to family and numerous friends to bear this huge loss and setback,” the governor tweeted.

    Mukul Roy recently returned to the TMC, his old party, thogh he had won the assembly election on BJP ticket.

  • Mukul Roy gets elected as Bengal Public Accounts Committee member

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Senior TMC leader Mukul Roy was elected unopposed as a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the West Bengal Assembly on Friday despite opposition by the BJP over his nomination as he was elected as an MLA on a saffron party ticket.

    Roy was among the 20 MLAs who had filed nominations for the memberships of the PAC on Wednesday.

    The PAC has the strength of 20 members.

    Nominations of all 20 candidates were found valid and they were declared elected unopposed.

    The 294-member Bengal assembly has 41 committees and the PAC works as the audit watchdog of the House.

    Speculations are rife that Roy may be appointed PAC chairman.

    The TMC had submitted 14 names, and the BJP had put forward six names.

    Roy figured in the list of 20.

    Roy, officially a BJP MLA from Krishnanagar Uttar, switched over to the TMC last week but did not resign from the assembly or was disqualified under the anti-defection law.

    On Friday, the West Bengal Assembly Secretary made the list public, which has name of Mukul Roy in it.

    Noted economist and BJP MLA Ashok Lahiri and Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari also featured in the list.

    The BJP and the TMC had got involved in a tussle after Roy, who left the saffron party to return to the ruling party on June 11, filed his nomination for induction in the PAC of the state assembly.

    The BJP had submitted a petition to state assembly speaker Biman Banerjee demanding disqualification of Roy, a legislator from Kishnanagar North constituency, under the anti-defection law since he did not resign from the party before switching sides.

  • BJP seeks cancellation of Mukul Roy’s nomination for PAC; Mamata hits back at saffron party

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The saffron party Thursday sought cancellation of Mukul Roy’s nomination for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and urged the Assembly secretary to reject his candidature as his name has not been proposed by the BJP Legislature party and the TMC is ineligible to advance his nomination as he has been elected on a BJP ticket.

    Roy was among the 20 MLAs who filed nominations for memberships of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the West Bengal assembly on Wednesday amid speculations that he may be appointed its chairman.

    The TMC has submitted 14 names and the BJP has put forward six names.

    Roy featured in the list of 20.

    Roy, officially a BJP MLA from Krishnanagar Uttar, switched over to the TMC last week but did not resign from the assembly or was disqualified under the anti-defection law.

    “We have submitted a letter to the assembly secretary objecting Mukul Roy’s nomination for the PAC membership. According to the assembly rules, either his name has to be submitted by the TMC or the BJP.”

    “The list doesn’t state on whose behalf Mukul Roy has filed nomination,” a senior BJP MLA said.

    Roy’s name has been proposed by independent member Ruden Sada Lepcha and TMC MLA Tarun Kumar Maity.

    Citing Rule no-302 of the Rules Procedure and Conduct of Business in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, the letter by the BJP noted that the norm of electing members to the PAC is based on the Principle of Proportional Representation.

    “Proportional Representation means election of the PAC members from amongst the proportional ratio of the parties. The BJP has not recommended his name.”

    “The TMC also can’t recommend his names as he has been elected on a BJP ticket. Hence, his nomination should be cancelled,” another BJP MLA said.

    Reacting to the development, TMC chief whip Nirmal Ghosh had said the letter by the BJP neither has any legal nor constitutional sanctity.

    “The BJP leaders don’t know the rules and proceedings of the House. When the nominations for the PAC membership are submitted, it is done as members of the house and not as a member of any party,” Ghosh said.

    Meanwhile, according to sources, all the 20 nominations, including that of Roy, have been accepted after the scrutiny.

    However, the list will be officially announced later.

    The BJP legislature party is apprehensive that the post of the PAC chairman, whose selection is the speaker’s prerogative, might go to Roy as there have been instances when Congress MLAs switching over to TMC were appointed to the important posts, party sources said.

    “As per the norm, the PAC chairman post goes to the opposition party. But, in the last assembly, we saw how Manas Bhunia and Sankar Singh held the post despite crossing over to the TMC and not resigning as Congress MLAs.”

    “The speaker then had cited that they are officially opposition MLAs,” a state BJP leader said.

    The apprehensions gained momentum after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, during a press conference, said Roy is a “BJP member” and the TMC is ready to face voting on the floor of the house on the issue of PAC chairman.

    Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said Roy’s nomination does not matter as he would cease to exist as a house member under the anti-defection law.

    Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that her party is supporting Roy.

    Stating that Roy “is a member of the BJP”, she said that though anybody can file nomination its the Speaker who has the authority to take the final call.

    “Anybody can file nomination for public accounts committee (PAC). And Mukul Roy who has filed the nomination is a member of the BJP.”

    “Where is the problem? He has got the support of Binay Tamang’s party and we will also support him. Its decision of the speaker,” Banerjee told reporters at the secretariat.

    “And if there is voting, we will win. We have gained power in the state after people voted for us. We will use the same to get the right person elected (for the PAC),” the Trinamool Congress supremo said.

    The state assembly has 41 committees and the PAC works as the audit watchdog of the House.

  • After return to TMC, Mukul Roy submits nomination for PAC member of West Bengal Assembly

    By Express News Service
    Kolkata: Mukul Roy, BJP’s former national vice-president who returned to the fold of the ruling Trinamool Congress last week, submitted his nomination for being the member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of West Bengal Assembly.

    There is a strong buzz in Bengal’s circuit that Roy might become the chairman of the PAC.

    Speaker of the Assembly Biman Bandopadhyay said the decision would be taken following the rules of the House.

    Asked whether Roy would be the chairman of the PAC, senior TMC minister Partha Chatterjee said, “It the Speaker’s prerogative to select the chairman of any committee of the Assembly.”

    The BJP, the opposition party in Bengal, said the party was keeping an eye on the developments. Though there is no rule, traditionally the post of chairman of the PAC is given to the opposition party.

    Roy was elected from Krishnagar (North) constituency on BJP’s ticket and so technically, he is still a BJP legislator as he is yet to resign from the post of MLA. Recently, Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA from Nandigram Suvendu Adhikari wrote to the Assembly Speaker to seeking Roy’s disqualification as MLA.

  • ‘Beginning of saffron party’s end’: BJP leader from north Bengal, seven others join Trinamool

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: In yet another jolt to the BJP, the party’s Alipurduar district president, Ganga Prasad Sharma, joined the TMC on Monday, as senior leader of the state’s ruling party Mukul Roy, who also switched sides two weeks ago, claimed that this was the “beginning of the saffron party’s end” in the state.

    Seven other BJP leaders from the region, too, followed in Sharma’s footsteps and joined the Mamata Banerjee camp.

    Roy, addressing a press meet here, said the BJP’s rise in the state began with the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, when it managed to bag several seats in north Bengal, and its downfall, too, will start from the region.

    “This is just a glimpse of what lies ahead. The BJP’s fall in the state is imminent,” Roy, who was the saffron partys national vice president until recently, underlined.

    Asked what he might have to say about BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari’s insistence that he quit as an MLA, having won the Krishnanagar Uttar assembly seat on a saffron camp ticket, Roy said, “He should first find out what his father (Sisir Adhikari) was up to.”

    Roy was referring to the TMC’s demand for disqualification of Kanthi MP Sisir Adhikari, who crossed over to the BJP, much like his son, ahead of the polls.

    Sharma, on his part, alleged that the BJP has ignored the sentiments of grassroots workers while choosing candidates for the assembly polls, “inducting people at its own will and flying them to Delhi”.

    “We felt neglected but still gave our best to the organisation and ensured that five saffron camp candidates from Alipurduar district get to win the assembly elections. Now, however, I intend to work for people under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee,” he stated.

    Rejecting Suvendu Adhikari’s assertion that Sharma changed sides as he was denied a saffron party ticket in the assembly polls, Sharma said, “Let me ask him why he chose to join the BJP ahead of the polls? Also, I wish to know why he was made the leader of opposition in the Assembly and not Manoj Tigga, who is a senior and loyal member of the camp.”

    Coming down heavily on local MP John Barla, who has recently sought a separate union territory comprising north Bengal districts, the BJP turncoat pointed out that the parliamentarian, instead of doing something constructive for the region, is “fanning the flames of division”.

    TMC deputy leader in the Upper House, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, who was also present at the press conference, said the people of the state will distance themselves from the BJP even further due its demands of “separatism”.

    Echoing him, education minister and senior TMC leader Bratya Basu noted that the saffron camp, on one hand, is observing ‘Poschimbongo divas’ (West Bengal Day), and on the other, its MP is seeking a bifurcation of the state, with no regard for its integrity.

    Talking about Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s visit to north Bengal, the TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP said, “He is free to go anywhere he wishes to. but he should have taken the state government in confidence.”

    Dhankhar has embarked on a week-long visit to north Bengal earlier in the day amid the controversy that has erupted in the region in the wake of Barla’s demand.

    Slamming state BJP president Dilip Ghosh over his claim that Bengal is becoming a “safe haven of terrorist outfits due to inaction of the state government”, the TMC MP said, “There are central agencies to keep a check on terrorist activities. If we were to believe him, the obvious question would be what are these agencies doing.”

    “Are the agencies only there to harass and arrest student activists and the ones who raise their voice against the policies of the BJP government?” the MP added.