Former Union law minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad has been appointed chairman of the Lok Sabha Privileges Committee, according to the latest announcement in New Delhi.
The committee has been constituted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla ahead of the second phase of Parliament’s Budget Session, scheduled to run from March 9 to April 2. The government is expected to push key bills during the sitting.
Opposition parties are preparing to raise several issues in both Houses, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent Israel visit and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, under which voter names were reportedly removed in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and Assam.
The 15-member panel has been formed for the first time after the 18th Lok Sabha was constituted in 2024. Its primary role is to examine complaints related to breaches of MPs’ privileges or actions seen as undermining the dignity of the House, and to make recommendations.
Members include BJP MPs Brijmohan Agrawal, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Jagdambika Pal, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Jagdish Shettar; Congress MPs Manickam Tagore, Tariq Anwar and Manish Tewari; DMK MP T R Baalu; TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee; Shiv Sena’s Shrirang Appa Barne; Shiv Sena (Uddhav) MP Arvind Sawant; and Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav. Manickam Tagore said he would be unable to attend the committee’s meeting as he has been suspended for the entire session.
