In a surprise move on Saturday, the Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla reshuffled two key parliamentary committees, stripping Trinamool Congress of its chairmanships on Commerce and Chemicals & Fertilisers.
Sudhanshu Trivedi of the BJP will head the Commerce panel, while Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, a former TMC rebel who joined the Nationalist Congress Party, will lead the Chemicals & Fertilisers panel—both appointments coming after 20 TMC MPs defected to the NCP.
The split, sparked by internal factionalism led by Dastidar, saw the group of 20 MPs leave the party and pledge support to the BJP‑led NDA, a development that has already altered the balance of power in the Lok Sabha.
With the committees reconstituted, the new chairpersons are expected to steer policy debates on trade and agricultural inputs, while opposition voices such as Shashi Tharoor and Congress leaders remain in other panels, setting the stage for a reshuffled legislative agenda.