The Parliament has restructured its standing committees with key roles being assigned to prominent leaders across party lines in 24 key panels.
Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been appointed as a member of the Defence Affairs Committee, while BJP MP from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi, Kangana Ranaut will be part of the Committee on Communications and Information Technology. This will be Kangana’s first official role in parliamentary matters.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has been appointed as the chairman of the Communications and Information Technology committee. The standing committees will be chaired by BJP MP Radha Mohn Singh.
In a significant reshuffle within parliamentary committees, veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has been appointed to lead the Parliamentary Committee on Women, Education, Youth, and Sports Affairs. Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Ram Gopal Yadav will chair the Health Affairs Committee.
Notably, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has been entrusted with leading the Foreign Affairs Committee, where he will collaborate with BJP MP Arun Govil, well-known for his role as Lord Ram in the television series Ramayana.
Additional key appointments include BJP leader Radha Mohan Das Agarwal heading the Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs and BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab chairing the Parliamentary Committee on Finance.
Out of the 24 department-related standing committees, the BJP has secured a prominent position, leading 11 committees, while its allies will oversee four. The Congress, DMK, and Trinamool Congress will each lead two committees, and the Samajwadi Party will chair one. Notably, key BJP allies, including the TDP and Janata Dal (United), along with partners in the upcoming Maharashtra elections, the Shiv Sena and NCP, have also been granted chairmanships.
Role Of Standing Committees
The standing committees have representation from across various party lines, act as mini Parliament and keep a tab on the functioning of various ministries. These committees play a significant role in overseeing various Union ministries.
These committees also offer recommendations for the formulation of policies and the introduction of new bills to address important national affairs.
