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Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress member Rahul Gandhi. (File photo: PTI)
The BJP, which leads the ruling National Democratic Alliance, has retained the chairmanship of the most important committees, such as home affairs, defence, finance and IT.
The parliamentary standing committees were formed on Thursday and the leader of the opposition Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is already a member of the defense committee.
As first reported by CNN-News18, the Congress, the leading opposition party, gets the chairmanship of four committees. This includes external affairs, a department formerly headed by Dr Shashi Tharoor of the Congress, who will now head a related team.
Congress MLAs Charanjit Singh Channi and Saptagiri Ulaka have been made the chairmen of the committees on agriculture, animal husbandry and food processing, and rural development and panchayati raj, respectively.
In the Trinamool Congress, which has been dragging its feet over the Centre’s offer, Lok Sabha MP Kirti Azad will head the standing committee on chemicals and fertilizers and Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen will head the trade panel.
As also reported by CNN-News18, the Bharatiya Janata Party has held its own. From the Janata Dal (United), Dr Sanjay Jha is now the chairman of the tourism, transport, and culture committee. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) gets Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy’s housing and urban affairs committee chairmanship. Shrirang Barne from the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde is the chairman of the energy committee.
The BJP, which leads the ruling National Democratic Alliance, has retained the chairmanships of the most important committees. Dr Radha Mohan Das Agarwal is now the chairman of the home affairs committee, replacing Brij Lal. Senior Member of Parliament from Lok Sabha Nishikant Dubey will head the IT committee. Radha Mohan Singh, another senior MP and former union minister, will head the defense committee. Former union minister Anurag Singh Thakur is the chairman of the coal and mines committee. Another senior member of Parliament, Bhartruhari Mahtab, is the chairman of the important finance committee.
Former union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy has been appointed as the head of the water resources committee. Former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai has been given the post of chairman of the labor and textiles committee.
Controversial Member of Parliament from Mandi Kangana Ranaut will be a member of the IT committee. Actress and politician Jaya Bachchan of Samajwadi Party and Shiv Sena (UBT) Member of Parliament Priyanka Chaturvedi are also part of the panel.
Interestingly, TMC’s Mahua Moitra, who had a major falling out with BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, continues to be on the IT committee chaired by him.
Former Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, formerly on the foreign office committee, will be a member of the law and justice committee, a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha.
Government sources said it has been announced several times, including parliamentary affairs minister, Kiren Rijiju, that there will be no delay in the formation of standing committees, and the process has been completed on time before September.