Senior TMC leader Mukul Roy, who recently switched over to the ruling camp in Bengal after winning the assembly polls on a BJP ticket, was on Friday appointed as the chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee in the Assembly by Speaker Biman Banerjee.

This comes days after he was nominated by the ruling party to become a member of the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee.

BJP MLAs, led by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, staged a walkout in the Assembly, protesting against this decision.

Roy, officially a BJP MLA from Krishnanagar Uttar, joined the TMC last month.

He, however, did not resign as an MLA, despite being asked to do so several times by the saffron party.

The TMC leader was elected as a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in June.

Adhikari said that an Opposition MLA is usually appointed as the PAC chairman in accordance with the norm, but the TMC misused that rule to appoint Roy as its chairman.

Section 255A of the Assembly rules gives the Speaker the power to appoint the PAC chairman. Sources said Trinamul intended to push Roy’s name as the PAC chairman.

The PAC comprises 20 members and 14 of them are nominated by the ruling party, while the Opposition nominates six members. Roy’s was among the 14 names submitted by Trinamul.

The BJP had named MLA Ashoke Lahiri in its list and wants him to become the chairman of the PAC. The BJP list also included Suvendu’s name.