Parliamentary Standing Committees restructured, 11 headed by BJP, Rahul Gandhi and Kangana Ranaut included
The Indian Parliament restructured its 24 Parliamentary Standing Committees on Thursday, with 11 chaired by the BJP, 9 by opposition parties, and 4 by NDA allies. The Congress has been allotted chairmanship of four committees, while two each have been given to the DMK and TMC, and one to the Samajwadi Party. NDA allies JD(U), TDP, NCP, and Shiv Sena have each been assigned one chair.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has been appointed to the Committee on Defence. The Committee on Home Affairs will be led by BJP’s Dr. Radha Mohan Das Agrawal, while the Committee on Defence will be chaired by BJP’s Radha Mohan Singh. BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab will oversee the Committee on Finance, CM Ramesh will lead the panel on Railways, and Nishikant Dubey will chair the Committee on Communications and Information Technology.
In a notable appointment, actress Kangana Ranaut has been named a member of the Communications and IT panel alongside BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.
Key roles have also been given to other political leaders. Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh will head the Parliamentary Committee on Women, Education, Youth, and Sports Affairs, while SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav will chair the Health Affairs Committee. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has been assigned the chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Committee, where he will work with BJP MP and actor Arun Govil, best known for his portrayal of Lord Ram, who has been appointed as a member of the same committee.
The BJP’s CM Ramesh will lead the Railways Committee, while former minister Anurag Thakur will head the panel on Coal, Mines, and Steel. Absent from this list of committee leadership is UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
NDA allies have also been given key committee leadership positions. Sunil Tatkare of the NCP will chair the committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Shiv Sena’s Shrirang Appa Barne will lead the committee on Energy. JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha will chair the committee on Transport, Tourism, and Culture, and TDP’s Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy will oversee the committee on Housing and Urban Affairs.
Congress leaders Charanjit Singh Channi and Saptagiri Ulaka will chair the committees on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Food Processing, and Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, respectively. DMK leaders Tiruchi Siva and K. Kanimozhi have been appointed to lead the committees on Industry, and Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution.
Former Union Minister and BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy has been named chair of the Water Resources Committee. The full list of committees was officially communicated by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat on Thursday.