New Delhi : The TMC on Saturday took strong exception to none of its MPs being given chairpersonship of any of the eight committees under the Upper House, saying Parliament is “being turned into a deep, dark chamber”.
TMC Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien wrote to Chairman C P Radhakrishnan, questioning the reconstitution of the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees for 2026-27.
In his letter, O’Brien said the BJP is the largest party in Rajya Sabha, followed by the Congress and the TMC, which is the third-largest party in the House.
He said the TMC had held the chairpersonship of committees in 2024-25 and 2025-26, but it has now been taken away.
“This is not the first time we have been treated in this manner! In 2019, when we were also the third largest party in Rajya Sabha, we were deprived. That was rectified a few years later and now it is back to square one,” O’Brien said.
“Indeed, for the above, and many other reasons, it must be said that Parliament is being turned into a deep, dark chamber,” he alleged.
O’Brien also cited the declining number of bills being referred to parliamentary committees for scrutiny, saying six out of 10 bills were sent to committees between 2004 and 2009, compared with two out of 10 between 2019 and 2024.
He further said four out of every 10 bills passed now are ordinances, compared with two out of every 10 bills two decades ago.
The TMC leader referred to the declining number of sitting days of Parliament and the vacancy in the post of Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha since 2019.
“Sir, I humbly rest my case,” O’Brien said at the end of his letter.
