Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar reconstitutes panel of vice-chairpersons with 50% women MPs

Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday announced that the panel of vice-chairpersons has been reconstituted with 50 per cent of women parliamentarians and that the percentage may go higher in future.The eight-member panel will now have four women members, including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs Kanta Kardam, Sumitra Balmik and Geeta alias Chandraprabha; and Biju Janata Dal's Mamata Mohanta.Dhankhar made the announcement in the Upper House on the first day of the Special Session of the Parliament.“The House members are informed that the panel of vice-chairpersons has been reconstituted with effect from September 13, 2023. Honourable members will be happy to note that 50% of the vice chairpersons happen to be women,” said Dhankhar.Announcing the names of new panel of vice chairpersons with 50 per cent women MPS, the Chairman also mentioned that the number of woman MPs in the panel may go higher in future.The vice chairpersons are eligible to preside over the house in the absence of the chairman or the deputy chairman.Besides, Congress' Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Aam Aadmi Party's Narain Dass Gupta, YSRCP's V Vijayasai Reddy and Santanu Sen from Trinamool Congress were announced as other members of the panel.Special Session of Parliament is being held from September 18-22.