Mukul Roy (File)
THE TRINAMOOL Congress has submitted a letter to the Rajya Sabha secretariat, stating that party MP Derek O’Brien will replace Mukul Roy as chairman of the standing committee on transport, tourism and culture. While it is routine for standing committees to be reconstituted in August, Roy’s removal will once more fuel speculation about his apparent flirtations with the BJP.
On Tuesday, Roy was present in Parliament, when the newly elected Trinamool Congress members of the Upper House took oath and subsequently met briefly in the party office, but he chose not to come to the party office.
Roy spent a long time in isolation in the party following his questioning by the CBI in the Saradha case. There was speculation about his defection to the BJP between February 2015 and December 2016, when he made a comeback. He, however, never got back the same stature.
On Tuesday, a party MP said, “Parliamentary committees are reconstituted after August as their terms end on August 31. What is there to talk about.”
However, sources said now that Roy is no longer the TMC pointsperson for coordination with other political parties, keeping such a senior person in Delhi may not be in the interest of the party. There are reports that he may be asked to fight the by-poll from Sabang Assembly seat. Roy, when contacted, said, “The question of fighting a by-poll or joining the state cabinet does not arise. It is the prerogative of the party to decide who will be the standing committee chairman.”
