Parliament standing committees: Mahtab, Tharoor to head finance, foreign affairs panels

NEW DELHI: BJP will head 11 of the 24 department-related parliamentary committees , while its allies will helm four, it was announced on Thursday. Congress will chair four, and DMK and TMC two each. SP will head one.

BJP's Bhartruhari Mahtab will chair the panel on finance while Congress's Shashi Tharoor will head the one on external affairs.

Ex-ministers RM Singh and Anurag Thakur will head the panels on defence, and coal mines & steel while Nishikant Dubey will chair the one on communications and IT. First-time MP Radha Mohan Agarwal has been nominated head of the MHA committee.

Rahul Gandhi has been retained in the panel on defence, whereas his Digvijay Singh is head of the committee on education, women, children and youth affairs. Sonia Gandhi does not figure in any of the committees. TMC's Dola Sen will head the panel on commerce and Kirti Jha Azad the one on chemicals & fertilisers.

JDU, which did not have adequate numbers to head a committee, has been given the opportunity from BJP's quota - Sanjay Jha will head the panel on transport, tourism and culture. TDP's MS Reddy will head the housing and urban affairs committee while the lone NCP LS MP Sunil Tatkare will be helm the panel on petroleum & natural gas. Shiv Sena's Shrirang Appa Barne will chair the energy panel.