Rahul Gandhi in Defence, Kangana in Communications Panel

On Thursday, the Parliament restructured its standing committees, forming 24 key panels and assigning significant roles to prominent political leaders across party lines. Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has been appointed as a member of the Defence Affairs Committee, which will be chaired by BJP MP Radha Mohan Singh.

Actress-turned-politician and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has been appointed to the Communications and Information Technology committee, marking her first official role in parliamentary affairs.

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

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

Other significant appointments include BJP leader Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, who will head the Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs, while BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab will chair the Finance Committee.

BJP leader CM Ramesh has been appointed as the chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Railways, while former minister Anurag Thakur will lead the parliamentary panel on Coal, Mines, and Steel.

Notably absent from the list of committee chairs 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.

JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha 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.

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 scrutinizing 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 some operate under the jurisdiction of the Rajya Sabha.