Rahul Gandhi appointed member of defence parliamentary committee, Shashi Tharoor gets foreign affairs

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been appointed a member of the standing committee on defence in the parliament. The parliament restructured its standing committees, with the formation of 24 key committees. The Defence Affairs Committee will be chaired by BJP MP Radha Mohan Singh. 

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has been given chairmanship of the Communications and Information Technology committee. Actress-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut is also part of the committee, making it her first official role in parliamentary affairs.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will lead the Foreign Affairs Committee, which also includes BJP MP Arun Govil, known for his portrayal of Lord Ram. Meanwhile veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh will lead the Parliamentary Committee on Women, Education, Youth, and Sports Affairs, and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Ram Gopal Yadav will chair the Health Affairs Committee.

Standing committees are responsible for overseeing various union ministries, scrutinising budgetary allocations, reviewing bills introduced in Parliament, and advising the government on key issues. They also recommend the formulation of policies and introduction of new bills. 

BJP leader Radha Mohan Das Agarwal will head the Home Affairs committee, BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab the Committee on Finance, BJP leader CM Ramesh will head the  Parliamentary Committee on Railways, BJP leader and ex-minister Anurag Thakur will lead the panel on Coal, Mines and Steel. 

Sunil Tatkare, the lone NCP member in the Lok Sabha, will head the committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shiv Sena’s Shrirang Appa Barne committee on Energy, Sanjay Jha of JD(U) the committee on Transport, Tourism, and Culture, TDP’s Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy the committee on Housing and Urban Affairs, Congress leaders Charanjit Singh Channi and Saptagiri Ulaka will lead the committees on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing, and Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, respectively.

DMK leaders Tiruchi Siva and K Kanimozhi will chair the committees on Industry, and Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, while Union Minister and BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy will lead the committee on Water Resources. 

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