Rajya Sabha Rejig: 28 MPs Shifted From Existing Panels Due To Poor Attendance

A senior Rajya Sabha official said ‘this includes 28 members, who had poor attendance in the meetings of committees held during 2020-21”.

Parliament

New Delhi: At least 28 Rajya Sabha MPs have been shifted from existing panels due to poor attendance.

A total of 50 members of the Rajya Sabha have been placed in new committees.

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A senior Rajya Sabha official said ‘this includes 28 members, who had poor attendance in the meetings of committees held during 2020-21”.

“12 of these 28 members didn’t attend any meeting in the last one year due to Covid-19 or elections,” he added.

Former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi has replaced Bhupendra Yadav as the chairman of the Personnel, Public Grievances and Law and Justice Panel of Parliament in the latest reshuffle of the standing committees.

Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O’Brien have been shifted to the committee on home affairs.

This comes at a time when the Opposition has been mounting pressure on the government and demanding Minister of State For Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra’s removal from the Union Cabinet over the violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3 in which eight people were killed

Besides, Chaya Devi Verma has moved from Agriculture to Social Justice and Empowerment while Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Manoj Kumar Jha has been shifted from the Railways to Labour.

Besides, Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohel will join the transport panel from IT committee while Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Sasmit Patra is now in the education committee from the law and justice committee.

In addition, TMC leader Mausam Noor has been shifted from the Commerce to Water Resources panel and world champion in boxing. This comes as nominated member MC Mary Kom has opted for Urban Development panel from the food body.

Indu Bala Goswami will be in health panel.

There are 24 standing committees and each panel has 11 members of Rajya Sabha and 20 of Lok Sabha.

Another official said “all three Shiv Sena members in the Rajya Sabha got new panels. Sanjay Raut moves to External Affairs from Defence, Anil Desai from Coal and Steel to Commerce and Priyanka Chaturvedi from Commerce to Transport, Tourism and Culture.

“All 3 had good attendance last year,” he added.