New Parliamentary Standing Committees formed; Congress takes charge of four panels

New Delhi: The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committees for 2024-2025 have been constituted, with Congress members chairing four key committees, including External Affairs. Notably, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi is a member of the Defence committee.

Composition of Committees

Each committee comprises members from both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. The Congress has secured the chairmanship of four important panels:

Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports: Headed by Digvijaya Singh
Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing: Chaired by former Chief Minister of Punjab, Charanjit Singh Channi
Rural and Panchayati Raj: Led by Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka
External Affairs: Headed by Shashi Tharoor

In contrast, the Defence committee will be chaired by BJP's Radha Mohan Singh, while Bhartruhari Mahtab will lead the Finance committee.

Other Committee Chairpersons

Other notable appointments include:

Former Union Minister Anurag Thakur: Coal, Mines and Steel Committee
Rajiv Pratap Rudy: Water Resources Committee
BJP member Nishikant Dubey: Communications and Information Technology Committee
Radha Mohan Das Agrawal: Home Affairs Committee
TMC's Dola Sen: Commerce Committee
Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav: Health and Family Welfare Committee
DMK's Tiruchi Siva: Industry Committee
The Communications and IT committee includes SP's Jaya Bachchan, SS (UBT)'s Priyanka Chaturvedi, BJD's Sushmit Patra, and Congress' KTS Tulsi from the Upper House, along with BJP MPs Anil Baluni, Kangana Ranaut, Poonam Madam, and TMC's Mahua Moitra from Lok Sabha.

Absence of Notable Names

Interestingly, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's name does not appear in any of the committees. Additionally, major BJP allies such as the TDP and Janata Dal (United), along with poll-bound Maharashtra partners like Shiv Sena and NCP, will each lead one committee.

Membership of the Defence Panel

The Defence panel, chaired by Radha Mohan Singh, includes other prominent members such as Haris Beeran, Samik Bhattacharya, Ajay Makan, Derek O’Brien, Nabam Rebia, Neeraj Shekhar, Kapil Sibal, GK Vasan, and Sanjay Yadav. Meanwhile, the Home Affairs committee will also be led by Radha Mohan Das Agrawal.

Other Notable Chairs

The lone NCP Lok Sabha member, Sunil Tatkare, will head the Petroleum and Natural Gas panel, while Shiv Sena's Shrirang Appa Barne will lead the Energy committee. JD(U)'s Sanjay Jha will oversee the Transport, Tourism and Culture committee, and TDP MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy will chair the Housing and Urban Affairs committee. DMK's Tiruchi Siva and K. Kanimozhi will lead the Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution committees, respectively. IANS