Parliament’s standing committees were officially constituted on Thursday, with lok sabha leader of the opposition rahul gandhi remaining a member of the defense panel. The congress party, as the leading opposition party, has secured the chairmanship of four committees. Notably, Dr. shashi tharoor will chair the external affairs committee, while congress MPs Charanjit Singh Channi and saptagiri Ulaka will head the committees on agriculture, animal husbandry and food processing, and rural development and panchayati raj, respectively.
For the Trinamool congress, which had been hesitant regarding the Centre’s offers, lok sabha mp Kirti azad will lead the standing committee on chemicals and fertilizers, and rajya sabha mp Dola Sen will oversee the commerce panel.
The bharatiya janata party (BJP) has also accommodated its allies in the committee allocations. Dr. sanjay jha from the Janata Dal (United) will chair the committee for tourism, transport, and culture, while the telugu Desam Party's Magunta Sreenivasulu reddy will lead the committee on housing and urban affairs. Shrirang Barne from Eknath Shinde's shiv sena will head the committee on energy.
The bjp, leading the ruling National Democratic Alliance, retained chairmanships of the most significant committees. Dr. radha mohan Das Agarwal is now in charge of home affairs, replacing Brij Lal. Senior lok sabha member Nishikant Dubey will lead the IT committee, with radha mohan singh heading the defense committee. Former union minister Anurag Singh Thakur will chair the committee on coal and mines, while Bhartruhari Mahtab will oversee the crucial finance committee. Former union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy has been appointed to head the water resources committee, and former karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai will lead the committee on labor and textiles.
Controversially, kangana ranaut will serve on the IT committee, alongside actress and politician jaya bachchan from the Samajwadi party and shiv sena (UBT) mp Priyanka Chaturvedi. TMC’s Mahua Moitra, who previously clashed with Nishikant Dubey, remains on the IT committee he leads. Former Chief Justice of india Ranjan Gogoi, previously part of the external office committee, will now be a member of the law and justice committee as a nominated rajya sabha member.
Government sources indicated that parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju had assured that the formation of the standing committees would not be delayed, and the process was completed by the end of September.