Parliamentary Standing Committees Reconstituted: Shashi Tharoor Reappointed External Affairs Panel Chief; Sudhanshu Trivedi Named Commerce Panel Chairperson

New Delhi: Parliamentary Standing Committees for the year have been reconstituted with effect from September 26. Chairpersons for 24 panels have been appointed, according to a Lok Sabha bulletin issued on Saturday.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has been re-appointed Chairperson of the Committee on External Affairs, while BJP's Nishikant Dubey will continue to head the Committee on Communications and Information Technology.

BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi has been named Chairperson of the Committee on Commerce. Trivedi replaces TMC's Dola Sen for the post. BJP's Radha Mohan Das Agrawal will chair the Committee on Home Affairs.

Among other key panels, BJP's Bhartruhari Mahtab has been appointed to head the Committee on Finance, Radha Mohan Das Agrawal will chair the Committee on Home Affairs, and BJP's Radha Mohan Singh will chair the Committee on Defence.

BJP's Anurag Singh Thakur has been named Chairperson of the Committee on Coal, Mines and Steel, while BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy will lead the Committee on Water Resources.

Congress's Mukul Wasnik will chair the Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, and DMK's Tiruchi Siva has been appointed Chairperson of the Committee on Industry.

BJP's Medha Vishram Kulkarni will head the Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, and JD(U)'s Sanjay Kumar Jha will chair the Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture.

Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav has been named Chairperson of the Committee on Health and Family Welfare, while BJP's Sujeet Kumar will head the Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice. Congress's Charanjit Singh Channi will chair the Committee on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing, and Shiv Sena's Shrirang Appa Chandu Barne has been appointed to lead the Committee on Energy.

DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi will chair the Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and BJP's Shashank Mani will head the Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development. NCP's Tatkare Sunil Dattatrey has been named Chairperson of the Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas, while BJP's Sudheer Gupta will chair the Committee on Railways.

TDP's Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy has been appointed to head the Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs, and Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar will chair the Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers.

Dastidar was a leader of the Trinamool Congress until June 2026, when she led a group of TMC MPs who decided to merge with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India. She replaced TMC's Kirti Azad for the post.

Congress's Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka will lead the Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, and BJP's PC Mohan has been named Chairperson of the Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment.

Each committee comprises 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. Several panels continue to have vacancies. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is a member of the Committee on Defence, while Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is a member of the Committee on Home Affairs.