Parliament's Standing Committees Constituted: BJP's Mahtab to Head Finance, Rahul Gandhi Joins Defence Panel

The new standing committees of Parliament feature BJP's Bhartruhari Mahtab as Finance chair and Shashi Tharoor in External Affairs. Rahul Gandhi's inclusion in the Defence Committee highlights significant party representations, although Sonia Gandhi is absent from any committee roles.

New Delhi: Parliament's standing committees were constituted on Thursday with BJP's Bhartruhari Mahtab as chair of the key panel on Finance and Congress' Shashi Tharoor at the helm of the panel on External Affairs. The department-related standing committees, which have representation from across party lines, act as mini parliaments and keep a tab on the functioning of various ministries.

The notification of the committees was announced by a communique issued by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. The committees on Defence will be chaired by former Union minister Radha Mohan Singh, while the panel on Home Affairs will be headed by BJP member Radha Mohan Das Agrawal.

The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is a member of the Committee on Defence. United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi's name does not figure in any of the committees.

Major BJP allies such as the TDP and Janata Dal (United) besides its partners in poll-bound Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena and NCP, will be heading one committee each. The lone NCP Lok Sabha member Sunil Tatkare will be heading the panel on Petroleum and Natural Gas and Shiv Sena's Shrirang Appa Barne will helm the committee on Energy.

JD(U)'s Sanjay Jha will be heading the committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture while TDP's Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy will chair the committee on Housing and Urban Affairs. Congress members Charanjit Singh Channi and Saptagiri Ulaka have been made chairpersons of the committees on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing; and Rural Development and Panchayati Raj respectively.

DMK's Tiruchi Siva and Kanimozhi will chair the committees on Industry; and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution respectively.

Of the total 24 department-related standing committees, BJP has got to chair 11, while its allies have got to lead four panels. Congress leaders will helm four committees, followed by two each by DMK and Trinamool, and one by the Samajwadi Party.

Former Union Minister Anurag Thakur and Rajiv Pratap Rudy have been given the chairmanships of the committees on Coal, Mines and Steel; and Water Resources respectively. BJP member Nishikant Dubey has been made the chairman of the Committee on Communications and Information Technology.

In the previous Lok Sabha, Dubey had a running battle with Tharoor, who was the chair on the panel of Committee and IT. Tharoor was replaced as chair of the crucial committee in 2022.

The Committee on Health will be chaired by SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav, while Trinamool leaders Dola Sen and Kirti Azad will lead the panels on Commerce; and Chemicals and Fertilisers respectively.

The Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice will be chaired by BJP's Brij Lal, a former director general of police of Uttar Pradesh. Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Bar Council of India Chairman Manan Mishra are members of the committee.

BJP members Bhubaneswar Kalita and Basavraj Bommai will chair the committees on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change; and Labour respectively. The Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment will be chaired by BJP's P C Mohan, while the panel on Railways will be led by C M Ramesh.