Rebel Trinamool MLA Kanaia Lal Agarwal appointed Public Accounts Committee chairman in WB Assembly
Traditionally, the PAC chairman has always been selected from the Opposition party and plays a key role in overseeing the government’s expenditure and scrutinising audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General
In a significant political development on August 4, 2026, the Trinamool Congress MLA from the rebel camp, Kanaia Lal Agarwal, was appointed as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in the West Bengal Assembly. Agarwal, affiliated with Ritabrata Banerjee's faction of the Trinamool Congress, secured his seat in the 2026 Assembly elections from the Uttar Dinajpur constituency on a Trinamool Congress ticket.
Following the announcement of his appointment, Ritabrata Banerjee, who serves as the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, highlighted that the Opposition has taken control of the chairman position for 10 standing committees. Notably, Agarwal's appointment holds particular significance due to his recent political allegiance shift.
In 2016, he had been elected to the Assembly with a Congress ticket, but in 2026, he switched to the Trinamool Congress after the party's defeat at the polls on May 4. Historically, the PAC chairman role has been reserved for opposition leaders, and this appointment follows a precedent set by Mukul Roy in 2021, who was appointed despite having served in the Bharatiya Janata Party before returning to the Trinamool Congress.
The LoP emphasized that this tradition had been neglected in the past and now rectified. During the Mamata Banerjee government in 2021, the tradition was broken, leading to debates and discussions within the House. While BJP leaders had called for Roy's disqualification, Banerjee publicly supported him, paving the way for Roy's appointment to the PAC chairman position.
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