Trinamool to head Parliamentary panels on Chemicals and Fertilisers, Commerce

The decision came after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had a discussion with Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien on Thursday. Rijiju had earlier alleged that the Trinamool had not given the names for panels, which was delaying its constitution.

New Delhi: Senior MPs Kirti Azad and Dola Sen will head the two Parliamentary Standing Committees allotted to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), with the government concluding its negotiations with the Opposition and setting the stage for the announcement of setting up of the crucial panels.

Sources said Lok Sabha MP Azad will head the Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers while Rajya Sabha MP Sen will lead the Commerce panel.

The decision came after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had a discussion with Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien on Thursday. Rijiju had earlier alleged that the Trinamool had not given the names for panels, which was delaying their constitution.

However, Trinamool sources said neither the government nor the Lok Sabha Secretariat reached out to them on leading committees and the first time it happened was when Rijiju discussed the issue with O’Brien, who had been accusing the government of delaying the setting up of Parliamentary panels.

Trinamool sources said they were adhering to ‘one MP, one post’ while choosing lawmakers for heading Parliamentary Standing Committees and that is why certain senior MPs who were given Parliamentary leadership responsibilities were not considered for the posts.

Earlier, Congress sources had said that it would be heading four Standing Committees – Shashi Tharoor will head the External Affairs panel, Digvijaya Singh leading the panel on Education, Charanjit Singh Channi heading Agriculture and Saptagiri Ulaka handling Rural Development panel.

Samajwadi Party has chosen its Rajya Sabha floor leader Ramgopal Yadav to head the Standing Committee on Health, which he was heading earlier. The SP was eligible to head a committee monitored by Lok Sabha but chose one from Rajya Sabha to enable Yadav to head it.