Trinamool Congress has expressed displeasure over the appointment of BJP’s Jharkhand MP Nishikant Dubey as chairman of the standing committee for information, technology, and communication. The party has asked the Lok Sabha Speaker to switch the committee of its MP Mahua Moitra to prevent a clash between the two leaders.
Nishikant Dubey took to social media to share his new role and emphasize the need for cooperation between the ruling party and the Opposition in running a committee. He expressed gratitude to Prime Minister @narendramodi ji and Lok Sabha Speaker Chairman ji for entrusting him with the important role of Chairman of the Standing Committee on Information Technology, Post and Information Broadcasting of Parliament. The Parliamentary Committee will examine fake news, journalists’ status, new online media laws in Britain and the EU, IT losses from the WTO agreement, newspaper status, broadcasting laws, copyright regulations, censor board, film artists status, and the Press Council Act of 1976.
We will offer united guidance to the government that will be devoid of arguments. We will strive towards achieving Prime Minister’s vision of a developed India by 2047. Both the ruling party and the opposition must work together in order to develop a nation. Do not dwell on the past, focus on the future.
The conflict between Nishikant Dubey and Moitra stems from Dubey’s involvement in investigating a case against Moitra, accusing her of sharing her Lok Sabha log-in details with businessman Darshan Hiranandani. The uproar in the House following the incident resulted in the expulsion of the TMC MP just months before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections after an ethics committee submitted a report to the Lok Sabha Speaker about her behavior. Nevertheless, she challenged the election results in Krishnanagar, Bengal, and emerged as the winner in the Lok Sabha.
During the previous Lok Sabha tenure, both Moitra and Nishikant Dubey were members of the identical committee. There were frequent clashes between them, particularly during Shashi Tharoor’s tenure as chairman. Indeed, during a meeting, Moitra was alleged to have referred to the BJP MP as a ‘gunda’. Besides Moitra, a couple of other members have also shown hesitancy about being part of the panel.
Nishikant Dubey chairs a 31-member panel with multiple representatives from the film and music industry. Its members include experienced music maestro and Rajya Sabha MP Ilaiyaraaja, actress-turned-Lok Sabha MP Kangana Ranaut, and Rajya Sabha MP Vijayendra Prasad, renowned for writing films like Baahubali. A notification from the Rajya Sabha on October 1 reported that several MPs had successfully managed to switch to the committee they desired to join.
Recently appointed to the IT related standing committee, Jaya Bachchan, who has transitioned from acting to politics, expressed to the Rajya Sabha chairman her desire to be transferred to a different committee. Meeting her wish, she has been moved to the labor and textile committee. In the same manner, Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale of the TMC has decided to leave the labor committee and join the IT committee. DMK MP R. Girirajan and CPI MP AA Rahim have withdrawn from the external affairs committee and joined the housing and urban affairs standing committee.