Parl’s committees formed: Mahtab heads Finance, Tharoor leads External Affairs

New Delhi: In a significant development, the standing committees of Parliament were officially constituted on Thursday. These committees, which act as mini-parliaments and oversee various ministries’ functioning, now have new leadership with representation from multiple political parties.

Bhartruhari Mahtab of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been appointed as the chair of the crucial Finance panel, while Congress leader Shashi Tharoor will head the External Affairs committee. The formation of these committees was announced through a communique issued by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.

Other key appointments include former Union minister Radha Mohan Singh chairing the Defence committee and BJP member Radha Mohan Das Agrawal leading the Home Affairs panel. Notably, Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has been included as a member of the Defence Committee. However, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s name is absent from all committee lists.

The BJP’s major allies have also secured significant positions. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (United), along with Maharashtra poll partners Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), will each lead one committee. NCP’s lone Lok Sabha member, Sunil Tatkare, will chair the Petroleum and Natural Gas panel, while Shiv Sena’s Shrirang Appa Barne will lead the Energy committee.

JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha will be heading the committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture while TDP’s Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy will chair the committee on Housing and Urban Affairs.

Congress members have been appointed to lead four committees, including Charanjit Singh Channi for Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing, and Saptagiri Ulaka for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj.

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.The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) secured chairmanships for two committees, with Tiruchi Siva heading Industry and Kanimozhi leading Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.Out of the 24 department-related standing committees, the BJP will chair 11, while its allies will lead four. The Congress will helm four committees, followed by two each for the DMK and Trinamool Congress, and one for the Samajwadi Party.

Some interesting appointments include former Union Minister Anurag Thakur chairing the committee on Coal, Mines and Steel, and BJP member Nishikant Dubey leading the Communications and Information Technology panel. Dubey’s appointment is noteworthy given his past conflicts with Tharoor when the latter chaired the IT committee.

Other significant assignments include SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav chairing the Health committee, and Trinamool leaders Dola Sen and Kirti Azad heading the panels on Commerce and Chemicals and Fertilisers respectively.

The Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, to be chaired by BJP’s Brij Lal, includes high-profile members such as former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Bar Council of India Chairman Manan Mishra.