Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien on Friday said only two of the newly-constituted parliamentary panels are headed by women -- the Commerce Committee headed by the TMC's Dola Sen and the Consumer Affairs Committee headed by the DMK's Kanimozhi.
In a post on X, O'Brien said only two parties, the TMC and the DMK, have "walked the talk".
"At long last. Chairpersons for 24 Parliamentary Standing Committees announced," the Parliamentary Party leader of the TMC in the Rajya Sabha said.
"Just two of these are headed by women. TMC and DMK walk the talk. The others? Only talk!" he said.
"Bravo TMC Dola Sen heading Commerce and DMK Kanimozhi heading Consumer Affairs," O'Brien added.
The parliamentary standing committees were constituted on Thursday. The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Bhartruhari Mahtab will head the key panel on finance and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will head the panel on external affairs.
The committee on defence will be chaired by former Union minister Radha Mohan Singh, while the panel on home affairs will be headed by BJP MP Radha Mohan Das Agrawal.
The department-related standing committees, which have representation from across party lines, act as mini parliaments and keep a tab on the functioning of various ministries.
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