Controversy over PAC chairmanship a 'mockery': WB minister

The controversy over Congress MLA Manas Bhuniya's appointment as PAC chiarman was turning out to be a "mockery", West Bengal Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee said today.
"They (Congress) are making a mockery out of the whole thing. By doing this they are actually devaluing the post of the PAC chairman. The Speaker has followed the rules and appointed a leader from Congress," Mukherjee said on the sidelines of a programme here.
"They (Congress) must follow and respect constitutional conventions. This (the controversy) is actually affecting democracy," he said.
Bhuniya was named Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman by state Asembly Speaker Biman Banerjee following which the Congress and the Left Front had staged a walk out from the House in protest.

The Speaker had later said in offering the post to the main opposition party "convention was followed".
39 Congress MLAs had appealed to Bhuniya to step down from the post of PAC chairman which was turned down by him. The Conress wants CPI-M's Sujan Chakraborty to be appointed on the post.

On July 24, Bhuniya was showcaused via an email by state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury, who said he had been asked to do so by the AICC leadership.
Following it, Bhuniya had met AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary C P Joshi and was served a showcause refusing to step down from the PAC chairman's post.

On Congress leader Abdul Mannan demanding that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee come out with a white paper on the recent incidents of extortion reported across the state, Mukherjee said, "The state government has taken strict steps to bring in transparency in everything ... If a white paper is released, the name of many from their party (Congress) will appear in it."
Mannan had said if a white paper is released, the picture on the PAC imbroglio will be clear to all.
" ... The white paper would bring to the fore all the extortionists," the Congress MLA had said.