Bengal assembly extends nomination deadline for four committees to July 21

After both the ruling party and the Opposition failed to submit nominations to four elected assembly committees, the West Bengal Assembly Secretariat has now extended its deadline.

Earlier, the assembly secretariat had stated that the last date for filing nominations to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and three other committees would be June 30. However, as no nominations were filed by either side, the deadline has now been extended to July 21.

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The fresh notification issued on Wednesday mentioned that the nomination papers will be scrutinised on July 22, the last date of withdrawal will be on July 23, and elections, if required, will be held on July 25.

Apart from the PAC, nominations are also required for the Committee on Public Undertakings, Estimates Committee and Local Fund Committee.

In practice, elections for these committees are rarely held unless excess nominations are submitted. Under an understanding between the ruling and opposition parties, 14 members from the ruling side and six from the opposition usually file nominations. One member from the Opposition is later appointed by the Speaker as chairperson of the committee.

Unlike these four committees, members for the remaining 37 assembly committees are distributed among the 250 legislators and do not require a separate nomination process.

However, the chief minister, ministers, the Leader of the Opposition and chief whips of both the treasury and opposition benches are excluded from the allocation process.

Sources in the BJP said the ruling camp was occupied during the recently concluded Budget session with presenting the new government’s Budget and legislative business and as a result the party was unable to collect the required signatures of MLAs within the deadline, resulting in a failure to submit nominations.

Party sources said the BJP plans to gather signatures after the second phase of the Budget session begins on July 17 and subsequently file nominations. The party is expected to nominate 14 MLAs for each committee. The situation within the divided Trinamool legislative party has also added uncertainty to the process.

West Bengal Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Bandyopadhyay is currently engaged in legal and organisational battles relating to control of the party symbol, according to sources.

A legislator from the rebel Trinamool camp claimed that the faction could not complete the nomination process in time because of these ongoing developments.

Sources said the other section of the Trinamool legislative party led by Shovandeb Chattopadhyay has also not taken a final decision on nominations.

Although the Trinamool legislative party is effectively divided into two camps, assembly secretariat records continue to recognise it as a single legislative party.

As a result, uncertainty remains over whether separate nominations from the two camps would be accepted. Sources indicated that both Trinamool factions have decided to proceed cautiously for now.

The delay by both the BJP and Trinamool camps has ultimately pushed back the nomination process for the four elected Assembly committees.