MAITC writes to Rajya Sabha Chairman over exclusion from parliamentary panel chairs
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MAITC MP Derek O'Brien. File | Photo Credit: PTI
The Mamata All India Trinamool Congress (MAITC) faction, which backs former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Saturday (October 3, 2026) wrote to Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan to protest its exclusion from the chairpersonship of any of the eight Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees under the Upper House’s jurisdiction.
In his letter, dated October 3, 2026, the party’s Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien, referring to the latest Parliamentary Bulletin announcing the reconstitution of the committees for 2026-27, noted that the Trinamool Congress remains the third-largest party in the Rajya Sabha. The Trinamool Congress, he said, 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 17th 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.
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