The Department Related Standing Committees (DRSC) gives little chance to the Opposition in holding the Government accountable in the upcoming sessions as most of the panels are headed by the BJP. The ruling party is in majority in all of the 24 DRSC committees. In the last Parliament session, the opposition had alleged that the Government was passing bills without scrutiny by the standing or select committees. However, on observing the situation closely we can witness that the Opposition does not have much say in the debate over the passing of these bills.

READ: Shiv Sena Hails Nehru, Congress For Upholding Parliamentary Democracy

BJP in the majority

In the previous sessions of the Parliament, the opposition had often argued that the BJP would pass bills without much probing. Bills such as the ban on triple talaq, amend Motor Vehicles Act, Aadhaar Act and the Indian Medical Council Act were passed after a day's discussion in the Parliament. However, upon observing the situation closely, the composition of the new DRSCs show that the Opposition does not have much to offer in this scenario. With the BJP having a majority of 303 seats out of 545 in the Lok Sabha, it can easily outnumber the opposition in every committee. Even in the Rajya Sabha, the BJP is nestled with 78 members in a house of 245.

READ: Shiv Sena And BJP Review Poll Preparedness For Maharashtra Elections

Congress in the Parliament

The Congress gets to head the Chairpersonship of the Standing Committee on Home Affairs. It is possibly the only important panel headed by Congress. The party had earlier replaced P Chidambaram with Anand Sharma. Jairam Ramesh is touted to remain active in heading the science, technology, environment and forest panel as he is familiar with the subject matter. Similarly, Sashi Tharoor will head the Information Technology Committee. 

READ: Govt Is All Set To Redevelop The Parliament Central Vista By 2022

On the other hand, Radha Mohan Singh of the BJP will replace Sudip Bandopadhyay. Bandopadhyay, a member of the Trinamool party, had earlier headed the railway standing committee. BJP has also taken hold of transport, tourism and culture committee from the Trinamool, leaving them out of all the important departments. 

READ: Parliament Building Could Become A Museum If A New One Is Built