A DAY after state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said party legislators have taken a resolution to appeal to Manas Bhunia to resign as Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman, the Sabang MLA in the centre of the controversy on Sunday refused to step down. Virtually defying the Congress stand, Bhunia had on Friday formally accepted his appointment as the PAC chairman, for which the party wanted to nominate CPM MLA Sujan Chakraborty. Bhunia had maintained that the decision to support Chakraborty for the post wasn’t taken in a Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting. Maintaining that he was insulted and humiliated by Leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan, Bhunia told The Indian Express: “No discussion had taken place before nominating Sujan Chakraborty as the PAC president. If the Congress high command had recommended Sujan for the post, either Mannan or Adhir Chowdhury should have called me and asked me to withdraw my name. I was intentionally humiliated and insulted by Abdul Mannan who neither likes nor can tolerate me. he has indulged in dissident politics.” Asked about the MLAs’ resolution requesting him to resign as PAC chairman, Bhunia said: “I have heard that a draft was handed over to the MLAs by the state party president (Adhir Chowdhury) and Mannan. I am outside Kolkata and have not seen the content of the draft, so cannot comment. I heard that Mannan had convened a CLP meeting but this issue was not discussed. Only MLAs were handed over the draft.” He added that party senior leaders did not have confidence in him. “Chowdhury had said that the PAC chairman is an important post and should go to Sujan Chakraborty. This shows that he doesn’t have faith in me, a six-time MLA and a politician for over 36 years. As the PAC chairman, I have already instructed the secretariat to convene a meeting and I will request the party to let me continue for a year to prove myself,” he said. [related-post] Watch Video: What's making news “If the All India Congress Committee (AICC) leadership called me to Delhi, I will go and tell them about what is happening. My question to them would be — What is my fault?” he added. While Mannan on Sunday refused to comment, saying the matter would be decided by AICC, Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said if Bhunia did not want to resign, the party high command would decide what’s to be done next. “Bhunia knows Sonia Gandhi very well. If he is not happy with any decision, he is free to go and discuss the matter with her. AICC will review the situation and the party president will tell him about the leadership’s decision,” he added. On Saturday, Chowdhury had hinted at a tacit understanding between the ruling Trinamool Congress and Bhunia. “On July 4, an arrest warrant was issued against Bhunia in a false case. He met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and later in the day, was appointed PAC chairman.,” Chowdhury had said, adding that AICC had supported Chakraborty as PAC chairman and the same was communicated to Bhunia. “He had agreed to become the chairman of assurance committee and later resign as PAC member,” Chowdhury had claimed.
