Rahul Gandhi gets Defence, Kangana Ranaut in Communications panel of Parliament

The Parliament on Thursday restructured its standing committees with the formation of 24 key committees, assigning significant roles to prominent political leaders across party lines.

Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, and senior Congress leader, has been appointed as a member of the Defence Affairs Committee. The committee will be chaired by Radha Mohan Singh, a BJP Member of Parliament.

Meanwhile, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has been given the chairmanship of the Communications and Information Technology committee. Notably, actress-turned-politician and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has been appointed as a member of this committee, marking her first official role in parliamentary matters.

Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has been appointed to lead the Parliamentary Committee on Women, Education, Youth, and Sports Affairs. Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Ram Gopal Yadav will chair the Health Affairs Committee.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has been tasked with leading the Foreign Affairs Committee, where he will work alongside Arun Govil, a BJP MP and actor famous for his portrayal of Lord Ram, who has been appointed as a member of the same committee.

Other crucial appointments include BJP leader Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, who has been made the head of the Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs, while the Parliamentary Committee on Finance will be chaired by BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab.

BJP leader CM Ramesh will chair the Parliamentary Committee on Railways and ex-minister Anurag Thakur will be heading the parliamentary panel on Coal, Mines and Steel.

Notably absent from the list of committee leaders is UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Several major BJP allies, including the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (United), along with poll-bound Maharashtra partners Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), have been assigned leadership roles on key committees.

Sunil Tatkare, the lone NCP member in the Lok Sabha, will head the committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas, while Shiv Sena’s Shrirang Appa Barne has been appointed to lead the committee on Energy.

Sanjay Jha of JD(U) 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 have been appointed to head the committees on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Food Processing, and Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, respectively.

Meanwhile, DMK leaders Tiruchi Siva and K Kanimozhi will chair the committees on Industry, and Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution.

Former Union Minister and BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy has been named the chair of the committee on Water Resources.

WHAT IS A STANDING COMMITTEE?

Standing committees focused on specific departments play a crucial role in overseeing various Union ministries. Their responsibilities include scrutinising budgetary allocations, reviewing bills introduced in Parliament, and advising the government on key issues.

Additionally, they offer recommendations for the formulation of policies and the introduction of new bills to address important national matters.

Most standing committees are overseen by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, though a few operate under the Rajya Sabha’s jurisdiction.