Rahul Gandhi retains membership on defence committee; Kangana Ranaut joins IT committee
PTC Web Desk: In a recent notification from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has retained his position on Parliament's Standing Committee on Defence. Meanwhile, actor-politician and first-time BJP parliamentarian Kangana Ranaut has been assigned to the Committee on Information Technology (IT). Rahul Gandhi, who also serves as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lower House, was earlier a member of the Defence Committee in the last Lok Sabha session. This committee will be chaired by BJP MP Radha Mohan Singh.
The Congress party has been appointed to chair four committees, including the significant External Affairs Committee, which will be led by former Foreign Minister Shashi Tharoor. Additionally, the Congress will oversee the committees on Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports, headed by Digvijaya Singh; Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Food Processing, chaired by former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Channi; and Rural and Panchayati Raj, led by Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka.
Notably, seven-time MP and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi has not been assigned to any committees this time. Meanwhile, key committees, including Defence, Finance, Home, and Coal, Mines, and Steel, will be chaired by members of the ruling BJP. The Home Affairs Committee will be led by Radha Mohan Das Agrawal, while Bhartruhari Mahtab, who earlier served as Pro-Tem Speaker, will chair the esteemed Standing Committee on Finance.
Former Union Ministers Anurag Thakur and Rajiv Pratap Rudy have been designated to lead the committees on Coal, Mines, and Steel, and Water Resources, respectively. Nishikant Dubey will take the Communications and IT position. Notably, Dubey and Shashi Tharoor had a contentious exchange in the previous Lok Sabha regarding Facebook's hate speech policies, which led to Tharoor being replaced as committee head in 2022.
Among other opposition members, Samajwadi Party's Jaya Bachchan joins Kangana Ranaut on the Communications and IT committee. Additionally, Priyanka Chaturvedi from the Shiv Sena faction led by ex-Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is also part of this committee. Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, who made headlines due to her disqualification from the last Lok Sabha, is included as well. Tiruchi Siva and Kanimozhi from Tamil Nadu's DMK will chair the committees on Industry and Consumer Affairs, and Food and Public Distribution, respectively.
Several allies of the BJP, which secured 53 seats from its National Democratic Alliance partners in the April-June general election, have been assigned leadership of one committee each. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu will chair the Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, while Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) will lead the Transport, Tourism, and Culture Committee. These two parties collectively won 28 Lok Sabha seats.
Ahead of the Maharashtra elections later this year, BJP's state allies—including the Shiv Sena faction of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the NCP group led by his deputy, Ajit Pawar—are also represented. Leaders from their parties will head the committees on Energy and Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Each department-related standing committee, composed of members from both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, functions as a "mini parliament," monitoring the operations of their respective ministries.
- With inputs from agencies
