The Mamata Banerjee government has deferred the passage of a bill to reintroduce the West Bengal Staff Selection Commission — introduced in 2011 and repealed in 2017 — after Congress and Left MLAs questioned its legality.

Sections of the ruling Trinamul attributed the “unprecedented” move to a willingness to take into account the non-BJP Opposition’s concerns. So far, treasury benches were often accused of bulldozing Opposition concerns.

“We have the numbers. Still, we’ve deferred the bill’s passage till September 3 as the Opposition has questions. We will clear the confusion on September 3 and pass the bill,” said a senior minister.

Leader of the Opposition and Congress MLA Abdul Mannan questioned the bill’s assertion that it had no financial implications and wondered whether repealing an act, which had revoked the original law, would pass legal muster.

Speaker Biman Banerjee then advised parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee to consider the proposal.