The biggest loser

As soon as the current Lok Sabha session comes to an end, the ministry-related Parliamentary standing committees will be formed. There are 16 such committees under the Lok Sabha while the Upper House has 8 committees. Going by the calculations, for every 35 Lok Sabha MPs, a party will get a chairman’s post in the committees under the Lok Sabha. Except the Congress and the BJP, no other party has crossed the 35 MP mark and they will have to depend on informal arrangements with other parties to grab these slots. The Congress is set to get six chairman’s post and the BJP will get three. Already hectic lobbying has started among other parties to grab the remaining seven chairmen’s posts. Many incumbent chairmen have expressed a strong desire to continue in the same committee. But the Congress managers think they will bring new chairmen. A final decision will be taken by Speaker Meira Kumar after consulting the government and different political parties.