Congress objects to Parliament panel chairmanship taken away from it

A full blown war has erupted over the appointment of Chairman of Parliament Standing committee between Congress and  BJP.

Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad has written a letter to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar regarding the of appointment of Chairman of Department related Parliamentary Standing committees (DPSCs) under Rajya Sabha quota.

Azad in his letter said, "Concerns raised by me on the arbitrary reconstitution of DPSCs have not been addressed. I Would urge you (Ananth Kumar) to reconsider and take immediate action to correct the anomalies in the allocation."

According to Azad's letter, in August 2017, Government had informed that Congress can retain chairmanship of two committees in place of three in view of changed party strength.

Referring to the contention made by Ananth Kumar that chairmanship of committee of personal public grievances and pension, law and Justice during UPA 1 and 2 was with ruling party to justify reallocation, Congress General Secretary Azad said, "I strongly disagree with the justification and am surprised that you have conveniently chosen not to mention period between 2014 and Sep 2017 of BJP-NDA government."

Azad further pointed, "There was a clear understanding of government with Congress when allocation of DPSCs was done in June 2014. Your contention contradicts this fact and the change made by the government is a breach of 2014 understanding with the principal opposition party."

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Azad, also pointed that as per established practice Chairmanship of DPSCs is allocated keeping in view the strength of the recognised political parties and not by clubbing together nominated and individual members.

"This is direct conflict with the accepted principles in a parliamentary democracy," Azad summed up.

Letter written by Leader of Opposition