Mamata-backed MAITC alleges exclusion from all eight Rajya Sabha committees

A dispute over the allocation of Rajya Sabha committee leadership has reached Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan, with the Mamata All India Trinamool Congress (MAITC) faction challenging its exclusion from all eight Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees under the Upper House’s jurisdiction.

The faction, which backs former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, wrote to the Rajya Sabha Chairman on October 3, 2026. The letter was sent by the party’s Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien.

Trinamool points to its position in the Rajya Sabha

Mr. O’Brien’s letter referred to the latest Parliamentary Bulletin announcing the reconstitution of the committees for 2026-27. He noted that the Trinamool Congress remains the third-largest party in the Rajya Sabha.

According to Mr. O’Brien, the Trinamool Congress chaired a committee in both 2024-25 and 2025-26, but has now been denied any chairpersonship. He also said the current decision was not the first instance in which the party had been left without a committee chair.

In 2019, when the Trinamool Congress was also the third-largest party in the House, it was denied a committee chair, Mr. O’Brien said. He added that the situation was corrected a few years later.

“Now it is back to square one,” Mr. O’Brien wrote. He also argued, “Parliament is being turned into a deep, dark chamber.”

Letter links committee issue to wider parliamentary trends

To support his contention, Mr. O’Brien cited four trends in the functioning of Parliament. Between 2004 and 2009, six out of every ten Bills were referred to parliamentary committees for scrutiny, compared with only two out of every ten between 2019 and 2024.

He also said four out of every ten Bills passed now originate as Ordinances, compared with two out of every ten 20 years ago. The figures cited in the letter place the committee chairpersonship dispute within a broader argument about the role of parliamentary scrutiny.

Mr. O’Brien further pointed to the number of days Parliament sat in different periods. Parliament sat for an average of 45 days per session in the first Lok Sabha and 36 days in the second and third Lok Sabhas, while the average in the 17th Lok Sabha, between 2019 and 2024, was 18 days.

He also pointed out that the post of Deputy Speaker in the Lok Sabha has remained vacant since 2019. “Sir, I humbly rest my case,” Mr. O’Brien concluded.

Faction says it remains a single parliamentary party

The Trinamool Congress has contended that the Election Commission allotted separate names and symbols to the rival factions following the party split as an “interim order”. It has maintained that the Trinamool Congress continues to function as a single parliamentary party in Parliament.

The party maintains this position pending Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s decision on a petition filed by the Mamata Banerjee-led faction. The petition challenges the recognition of the rival group.

Source: The Hindu