Trinamool Congress loses control of two key parliamentary panels in reshuffle

The Trinamool Congress has lost its leadership of two key parliamentary standing committees following a major reshuffle of the panels by parliamentary authorities.

In the changes announced on Saturday by Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the BJP's Sudhanshu Trivedi was appointed to head the Committee on Commerce, replacing the TMC’s Dola Sen. In another shift, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who leads a rebel faction of the TMC, took over from her former party colleague Kirti Azad as chairperson of the panel on chemicals and fertilisers.

The annual reconstitution keeps the broader party balance largely unchanged, with the BJP and its allies retaining most of the powerful committees they previously held. Leaders from key BJP allies—including the JD-U, Shiv Sena, and the Telugu Desam Party—have all been retained as heads of various panels.

Who got what in the new panels

Among the ruling coalition, Sanjay Kumar Jha of the JD-U will continue to lead the transport, tourism, and culture committee, while Shiv Sena's Shrirang Barne remains in charge of the energy panel.

The BJP has also tightened its grip on several administrative and economic portfolios. Sujeet Kumar has replaced fellow BJP MP Brij Lal as chairperson of the committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice. Former Union Minister Anurag Thakur remains the head of the panel on coal, mines, and steel, while Rajiv Pratap Rudy will continue to lead the water resources committee. Radha Mohan Singh is set to head the defence panel.

Other key ministries will also remain under BJP-led scrutiny. Bhartruhari Mahtab continues to lead the finance committee, Radha Mohan Das Agarwal remains at the helm of home affairs, and Nishikant Dubey has been reappointed to head the communications and information technology panel. Sudheer Gupta has replaced his party colleague C.M. Ramesh to head the railways committee, while Medha Vishram Kulkarni remains chairperson of the committee on science and technology, environment, forests, and climate change.

Opposition leaders retain key posts

Several senior opposition figures have been kept in their posts. The Congress party's Shashi Tharoor remains the chairperson of the external affairs committee, and former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi retains his role leading the agriculture panel. Mukul Wasnik of the Congress was also reappointed to lead the committee on education, women, children, and youth, while Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka remains head of rural development and Panchayati Raj.

Other opposition leaders retaining their positions include the Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav, who continues to head the health and family welfare panel. DMK MPs Tiruchi Siva and K Kanimozhi have also been reappointed as chairpersons of the committees on industry and food, consumer affairs, and public distribution, respectively.

These department-related standing committees play an important role in India's legislative process. They are tasked with scrutinising ministerial budgets, examining draft bills, and reviewing government policies, and have the power to summon government officials and outside experts for questioning. Most of the panels are reconstituted on an annual basis.