The appointment of senior Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is set to ruffle feathers within the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) as the NCP (SP) was eyeing the post.
Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar on Wednesday cleared the appointments on various legislative committees. As per norms, the PAC is headed by an opposition member. With the Shiv Sena (UBT) staking claim on the Leader of Opposition post, the Congress has staked claim on the PAC chairmanship. Even though Wadettiwar heads the committee, out of other 19 members, the only opposition member is Rohit Pawar of the NCP (SP) while 16 others are from the ruling Mahayuti. Two places have been kept vacant.
Advertisement
The PAC is one of the most crucial legislative committees as it recommends actions on issues raised in CAG reports. The committee can also take up or highlight specific projects/ issues which may not be comfortable to the government. The committee can call officials of departments concerned for hearing and may seek additional information before giving its report.
The Speaker is yet to give his verdict on the LoP post.
According to sources, Pawar was interested in this post. With the Sena (UBT) claiming the LoP post in the Legislative Assembly, the Congress is all set to claim the LoP post in the Legislative Council as current LoP Ambadas Danve of the Sena (UBT) will be retiring in August. “If these two posts are shared within Congress and Sena (UBT), then the NCP (SP) should have been given the PAC chairmanship,” a leader from the party said.
Advertisement
Sources within the Congress, however, denied any discord within the MVA. “Everything has been done after communicating decisions to all parties. Things have happened as planned,” a Congress leader said.
The Speaker is yet to give his verdict on the LoP post (Archive) 
Share
