You can make a case for saying a reshuffle of the Rajya Sabha committees has made Raghav Chadha something of a talking point. An official notification has him as the head of the Upper House’s Committee on Petitions. He’s the MP who has only just come over to the BJP, and the reconstituted panel is in effect as of 20th May.
It all comes down to a fresh set of names put forward by C P Radhakrishnan, the Rajya Sabha chairman. In a time of some political flux, the appointment gives Chadha a firm hand on the wheel of a reworked panel.
'Raghav Chadha has been appointed Chairman of the Committee,’ the Rajya Sabha put out in a notification. That’s it in a nutshell – he’s been moved up in the ranks of the Upper House.
Why the appointment drew attention
For one, it doesn’t take long after a party switch for an appointment like this to be noticed. There’s a certain interest in how these things are done when the political landscape is being redrawn. Now he is at the top of a standing forum in the Upper House, which speaks to his expanding role in the organisation.
Then there is the way the Chair has seen fit to apportion duties once the committees were put in order. With a leaner panel in front of them, you have to see what the members make of their agenda in the weeks to come.
What changed in the committee
C P Radhakrishnan has reconstituted the Committee on Petitions and put 10 people on it. As of 20th May, the committee has a new face and a new head.
Here is what the word on the street and in official circles is:
– The Committee on Petitions has been reconstituted, 20th May being the day it starts.
– It was the Rajya Sabha chairman, C P Radhakrishnan, who made it happen.
– You will find ten members on the panel now.
– And as per the notification, Raghav Chadha is the Chairman.
Who is on the panel
Chadha isn’t alone; the rest of the panel is quite varied. You have Jebi Mather Hisham, Mayankkumar Nayak and Rwngwra Narzary. They are in good company with Harsh Mahajan, P. Sandosh Kumar and Subhasish Khuntia.
Gulam Ali, Shambhu Sharan Patel and Masthan Rao Yadav Beedha round out the group. All in all, it’s the kind of line-up the Chair has put in place.
Official language from the Rajya Sabha
If you read the notification, it is very much to the point: 'Raghav Chadha has been appointed Chairman of the Committee.’ It also makes a note of the fact that the Rajya Sabha chairman has reconstituted the panel with 20th May as the effective date.
The same document confirms the 10 members have been put on the panel as part of the process the Chair has overseen.
Another nomination on 20 May 2026
There is also this from the Rajya Sabha secretariat: ‘The Chairman, Rajya Sabha has, on 20 May 2026, nominated Dr. Menaka Guruswamy, Member, Rajya Sabha to be a member of the Joint Committee on the Corporate Laws
[Amendment]
Bill, 2026.’
It shows that work is moving along on other fronts as well, with new faces in both the standing and joint committees for the time being.
With Chadha in the chair and the panel reassembled, you could say the committee is in for a bit of a test. We’ll be watching to see how they get on with their first few sittings and what they put first on the docket.
Now that the formalities are out of the way and the Chair has made his call, the Committee on Petitions is off to the races under Chadha. The next few months will tell us if the new arrangement bears fruit in the Upper House.
