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BJP junks time-honoured Parliamentary principle, keeps chairmanship of key Parliamentary committees

Published

7 years ago

on

Narendra Modi

In an unprecedented break with Parliamentary principle and tradition, the ruling BJP has kept the chairmanship of most of the parliamentary panels that scrutinise the functioning of key ministries of the government and submit reports on relevant issues or bills after scrutinising them.

It has left to the opposition just the Ministry of Home Affairs, headed by party president Amit Shah.

The files on the appointments were cleared by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday, Sep 13. The Lok Sabha Secretariat updated the details of parliament’s standing committees for the newly constituted 17th Lok Sabha late night on Friday night.

BJP leaders have replaced Opposition MPs as the chairperson of the Parliamentary standing committees on finance and external affairs, PTI reported. The two crucial panels were led by Congress MPs in the previous Lok Sabha.

BJP MP Jayant Sinha will be the chairperson of the standing committee on finance, Jual Oram will head the committee on defence and PP Choudhary will lead the external affairs committee. In the 16th Lok Sabha, the finance panel was headed by Congress MP Veerappa Moily and external affairs by Shashi Tharoor.

Congress leaders Anand Sharma and Jairam Ramesh will head two Rajya Sabha panels: home affairs, and science and technology. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be a member of the defence panel, according to the statement.

In a reshuffle, Trinamool Congress’s Derek O’Brien was not retained as the chairman of the travel, tourism and culture committee. Trinamool’s Lok Sabha floor leader Sudip Bandopadhyay will be the chairman of the panel on consumer affairs, the statement said.

The opposition parties have been given the chairmanship of Science and Technology and Environment, Health, Information Technology, Food and Consumer Affairs, Labour and Chemicals &Fertilizers.

Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Bhupender Yadav is heading the committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice. BJP’s Rakesh Singh is chairing the committee on Coal and Steel, Ramesh Bidhuri (Petroleum &Natural Gas), Rama Devi (Social Justice and Empowerment), Satynarayan Jatiya (HRD), K Keshava Rao (Industry) Jagadambika Pal (Urban Development) and Sanjay Jaiswal (Water Resources).

V Vijayasai Reddy of the YSRCP, considered to be friendly to the BJP at the centre, is appointed to chair the panel on Commerce, BJD’s Bhartruhari Mehtab is heading the committee on Labour, ally JD(U) MP Rajiv Ranjan will chair the Energy panel, Shiv Sena MP Prataprao Jadhav heads the Rural Development panel.

DMK MP M Kanimozhi will chair the committee that scrutinises the Chemicals and Fertiliser ministry. Shashi Tharoor who had headed the panel on external affairs committee in the 16th Lok Sabha is now been given the chairmanship of Information Technology panel.

Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav chairs the panel on Health and Family Welfare.

The chairmanship of panels on Railways and Agriculture, apparently much sought after committees, has been given to former ministers and senior BJP leaders Radha Mohan Singh and PC Gaddigoudar. The post for the panel on Transport, Tourism and Culture is gone to Rajya Sabha member TG Venkatesh who has joined the BJP from TDP recently. TMC’s Derek O’Brien was heading it. In the newly constituted panels, TMC’s Lok Sabha MP Sudhip Bandhyopadhyay has been chosen to head the standing committee on Food Consumer Affairs and PDS.

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who was a member of the panel on external affairs, has now been moved to the parliamentary panel on defence, which is headed by Jual Oram.

Standing committees are allocated by Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman on the recommendation of the government.

Congress criticises move

With the latest move, the Congress, which has 52 lawmakers in the current Lok Sabha, will be left with just one panel to lead in the Lower House — the panel on information technology. The Congress had chaired two committees in the previous Lok Sabha, when it had 44 members in the Lower House.

The Congress party has already expressed its disappointment over the move.

The Congress’ floor leader, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said: “We have been informed that we will get the chairmanship of just one panel… I had shot a protest letter to parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi. I told him that functioning of Parliament means there should be some checks and balance. It is also the right of the parties to head the panels.”

Chowdhury said that in the best interest of parliamentary democracy, the Congress must be given its due. “I also reminded him that when we had 44 MPs, we headed two panels and now we are a 52-member team but you want to give us just one panel to head. This is injustice,” said Chowdhury.

Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor, who headed the foreign affairs panel in the last Lok Sabha, hit out at the BJP, calling the decision “one more blow to our soft power, image and international reputation as a mature democracy”. Tharoor said this is the first time the foreign ministry panel was not given to the main Opposition party.

Tharoor also took a jibe at the Modi government, saying a BJP MP will now hold the BJP government accountable instead. “It’s official: Government has decided to end the tradition of the leading Opposition party chairing the External Affairs Committee. Apparently a BJP MP will now hold the BJP Govt accountable instead,” he said in a tweet.

In a tweet on Tuesday, the former Union minister had said in the entire history of Parliamentary Standing Committees, the Committee on External Affairs has always been headed by an Opposition Lok Sabha MP.

“Our tradition is foreign policy bipartisanship: our political differences stop at the nation’s borders. Dismaying,” he had said, tagging a media report that claimed that the government may deny the Congress chairmanship of the standing committees of finance and external affairs it held in the last Lok Sabha.

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Kharge, Rahul Gandhi skip Independence Day event for 2nd straight year

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi skipped the 80th Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort for the second consecutive year.

Published

15 hours ago

on

August 15, 2026

By

Rahul Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi skipped the 80th Independence Day celebrations at Delhi’s Red Fort for the second consecutive year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the Independence Day celebrations at the historic venue on Saturday.

The absence of the two senior Congress leaders comes amid strained relations between the ruling party and the Opposition, which further deteriorated during the Monsoon Session of Parliament that concluded on Thursday.

2024 seating controversy

Rahul Gandhi had attended the Independence Day celebrations in 2024 but his seating arrangement triggered a controversy. The Congress leader, who holds the status of a Cabinet minister as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, was seated in the second-last row during the ceremony at the Red Fort.

The Opposition had criticised the seating arrangement, calling it an insult to the people. The Defence Ministry, which organised the event, said the arrangement had been modified to accommodate Olympians at the venue.

According to protocol, the Leader of the Opposition is seated in the front row during ceremonial events.

Opposition-ruling party tensions

Relations between the government and the Opposition remained tense during the Monsoon Session, which ended on Thursday.

The session saw repeated clashes between the two sides, with both the Opposition and the ruling party blaming each other for the low productivity of Parliament.

The session began on July 20, with students marching towards Parliament on the first day. Twelve bills were passed during the session, while detailed discussion took place on only one legislation, concerning paper leaks.

The Congress, along with the Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party, also boycotted the customary tea party hosted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla after the House was adjourned sine die.

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Assam BJP leader Bikash Dhar found dead, 5 arrested for murder

BJP leader Bikash Dhar, 52, was found dead in an abandoned house in Assam’s Sribhumi district after being reported missing on August 12. Police have arrested five people in connection with the alleged murder.

Published

1 day ago

on

August 14, 2026

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A 52-year-old BJP leader who had been missing for two days was found dead in Assam’s Sribhumi district on Friday, with police alleging that he was murdered.

Bikash Dhar, a resident of Chagalmowa village under Bazaricherra police station, was found dead inside an abandoned house in the Yogicherra area near the Tripura border on Friday morning.

Dhar’s family had filed a missing complaint on August 12 after he left home following a phone call.

According to his son Madan Dhar, Bikash left around 1 pm after saying that he had to attend an emergency meeting. When he did not return and his phone was switched off, the family began searching for him and later approached the police.

Five arrested in murder case

Sribhumi Superintendent of Police Leena Doley said an investigation was launched after the missing complaint was received. The probe was conducted under the supervision of the Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime).

Police said five people have been arrested in connection with the alleged murder. They were identified as Abdul Salam, Sifat Ali, Abdul Ahad, Saiful Ali and Badrul Haque.

According to the police, interrogation of Abdul Salam revealed that the accused had an enmity with Dhar. Police alleged that the group killed him and dumped his body near a water body.

Another person, identified as Sunam Miya, was named during the investigation and reportedly fled to Tripura on the night of the incident.

Police find injury and cut marks on body

Police said injury and cut marks were found on Dhar’s body, and a murder case has been registered.

During the recovery of the alleged weapon, police said accused Badrul Haque attempted to escape from custody. A police constable was injured during the incident.

Police said they fired at Haque’s leg to prevent him from escaping, resulting in a bullet wound.

The investigation into the circumstances surrounding Dhar’s death and the alleged involvement of the accused is underway.

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Karnataka Cabinet clears public property bill amid RSS registration row

Karnataka Cabinet approves a Bill to regulate the use of government premises and public property amid a political row over RSS registration.

Published

2 days ago

on

August 14, 2026

By

Priyank Kharge

The Karnataka Cabinet has approved a proposed law to regulate the use of government premises and public property in the state, amid an ongoing political debate over the registration and use of public spaces by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The Karnataka Regulation of Use of Government Premises and Public Property Bill, 2026 was cleared by the Cabinet, Home Minister Priyank Kharge said after the meeting.

According to the government, the proposed legislation aims to establish a legal framework governing the use of government lands, buildings, playgrounds, parks, roads and other public assets by private individuals, organisations, associations and societies.

Kharge said the objective was to prevent unauthorised use and misuse of public property while ensuring that such assets are protected for public benefit.

What the Karnataka public property bill proposes

The proposed legislation is expected to lay down procedures for obtaining permission to use government property for events, meetings and other activities.

It also proposes provisions for penalties in cases involving misuse of government premises or damage to public property, according to officials.

The government is expected to introduce the Bill in the Karnataka legislature, where it will be taken up for discussion and passage.

Priyank Kharge denies Bill targets RSS

The proposed legislation comes against the backdrop of a row involving the RSS and its use of public property in Karnataka.

Kharge, however, rejected speculation that the Bill had been framed specifically against the RSS or any other organisation. He said the government did not have a particular institution, association, organisation, society, club, union, syndicate or NGO in mind.

The issue has been part of a wider political debate since 2025, with Kharge opposing the use of government premises and public property by the RSS and calling for the organisation to register formally.

In June, Kharge also wrote to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat seeking clarity on the organisation’s legal status, financial transparency and constitutional accountability.

The development is likely to keep the debate over the use of public property and the legal status of organisations in Karnataka in focus as the proposed legislation moves to the state legislature.

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