New RS MPs nominated to Parl committees; Scindia gets HRD, Sharad Pawar in Defence panel

A day after administering oath to newly elected Rajya Sabha members, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu nominated all new members to different Parliamentary Standing Committees. However, only 45 out of the 61 members who took oath on July 22 can participate in the meetings of the respective committees. The remaining 16 members would be able to participate after taking oath. 

While a total of 65 members have been nominated to committees, RPI chief Ramdas Athawale does not feature in the list as he is a Minister in the Union Cabinet. Senior leaders such as Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sharad Pawar, Digvijaya Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge and HD Deve Gowda have been nominated to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD, Defence, Urban Development, Commerce and Railways respectively. On the other hand, new RS MPs like Priyanka Chaturvedi and Udayan Raje Bhonsle will be a part of the Parliamentary Committee on Commerce and Railways respectively.

Read: Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu Urges New Members To Make Good Use Of Opportunity

Here is the full list:

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Rajya Sabha elections

Originally, 55 vacancies had arisen in the Upper House of Parliament earlier this year. While the election to these seats was scheduled to take place on March 26, a total of 37 candidates were elected unopposed- 7 from Maharashtra, 6 from Tamil Nadu, 5 each from West Bengal and Bihar, 4 from Odisha, three from Assam, two seats each from Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Telangana and one from Himachal Pradesh. The result was declared by the Returning Officer as no other candidate was in the fray from these seats.

However, the election to the other 18 seats was postponed owing to the COVID-19 crisis. Additionally, the 37 elected MPs were unable to formally take the oath. BJP bagged 7 of these seats as against Congress which could win only 4 seats. Subsequently, the EC announced elections to fill 24 seats in the RS- 18 pending vacancies and 6 new ones to be held on June 19. This included 4 seats each from Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Karnataka, three seats each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, two seats from Jharkhand, and one seat each from Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and Meghalaya. While 5 candidates were elected unopposed, 19 seats witnessed a tough battle with BJP, Congress, YSRCP, NPP, and MNF winning 8, 5, 4, one, and one seats respectively. 

Read: Andhra Pradesh Dy CM, Fisheries Minister Resign As MLCs After Being Elected To Rajya Sabha

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