Suman Kanjilal, the Alipurduar MLA who defected from the BJP to Trinamul in 2022, will be the new chairman of the public accounts committee (PAC) in the Assembly.

“I got information from Calcutta that I have been selected for this important post. I will do my best to discharge my responsibility,” said Suman, 53, in Alipurduar.

An Opposition MLA is usually appointed as the PAC chairman. Since 2021, Trinamul has been appointing BJP MLAs, who are defectors to Trinamul but have not resigned as MLAs, as PAC heads. It started with veteran Mukul Roy, who, after winning on a BJP ticket, returned to Trinamul.

In 2022, as Mukul resigned over health issues, Trinamul found Krishna Kalyani, the BJP MLA of Raiganj, who had also defected to Trinamul. This time, as Trinamul chose Kalyani as the candidate for the Raiganj Lok Sabha seat, he resigned as MLA.

“This made Trinamul scout for another defector and they found Suman Kanjilal. It is a trick.... Trinamul wants to prove it has an Opposition MLA in the chair,” said Manoj Tigga, the chief whip of BJP in the Assembly who is the BJP candidate from Alipurduar parliamentary seat. In Parliament, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is the chairman of the PAC, he added.

Samik Bhattacharya, the BJP Rajya Sabha MP, added: "After Krishna Kalyani, they (Trinamul) found another turncoat to sit on the key chair and turn a blind eye to the government’s activities.”