Congress leader Shashi Tharoor will chair the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, while former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi will chair the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture. Saptagiri Shankar Ulaka, two-time MP from Koraput, will chair the Committee on Rural Development and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijay Singh will chair the Standing Committee on Education. The Congress party has decided the names of the chairmen of these committees on 19 September. The Congress party has decided the names of the chairmen of these committees on 19 September. After long negotiations with the government after the formation of the new Lok Sabha, the main opposition party Congress has got the chairmanship of three standing committees of Lok Sabha related to Foreign Affairs, Agriculture and Rural Development. Congress has also got the responsibility of chairing the Standing Committee on Education of Rajya Sabha. There are a total of 24 standing committees related to departments in Parliament. There are 16 standing committees under Lok Sabha and 8 under Rajya Sabha. Each of these committees has 31 members. There are 21 members from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha, who are nominated by the Speaker of Lok Sabha and the Chairman of Rajya Sabha on the recommendation of the respective parties. The tenure of these committees is one year. It has been the tradition of Parliament that parliamentary committees are formed by the end of September.
