Kolkata: Rebel Trinamool MLA from Islampur Kanaia Lal Agarwal was on Tuesday appointed chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Bengal assembly after the 20-member panel was constituted unopposed.Assembly sources said exactly 20 nominations were received for the committee, matching its strength and making a formal election unnecessary. The PAC comprises 14 members from the governing BJP and six from the opposition, with Agarwal among the opposition nominees.PAC, one of the assembly’s most important financial oversight bodies, is traditionally chaired by an opposition legislator to ensure independent scrutiny of govt expenditure. It examines Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports and reviews whether public funds were spent in accordance with legislative approval.Agarwal’s appointment drew attention because of his shifting political affiliations. A former chairman of Islampur municipality, he was elected as a Congress MLA in 2016, joined TMC in 2017, unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Raiganj, and was re-elected from Islampur in 2026. Following the assembly polls, he emerged as a rebel TMC legislator aligned with the Ritabrata Banerjee camp.BJP has allocated the chairmanship of 10 of the assembly’s 41 standing committees to the opposition. ISF MLA Nawsad Siddique will head one committee, while the remaining chairmanships are expected to go to MLAs aligned with the Ritabrata faction.Assembly sources said MLAs from the Kalighat Trinamool faction would serve as committee members but not chairpersons.During TMC’s term, the opposition had repeatedly criticised the appointment of defected MLAs like Manas Bhunia, Mukul Roy, Krishna Kalyani and Suman Kanjilal as PAC chairpersons after they joined the then-governing party.
