Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president and Union Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda has been named Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha. Mr. Nadda replaces Union Minister Piyush Goyal, who recently won the Lok Sabha election and took oath on June 24, as a member of the Lower House of Parliament.
Leader of House in Rajya Sabha
The Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha is the leader and parliamentary chairperson of the majority party in the Rajya Sabha and is normally either a cabinet minister or another nominated minister. The Leader of the House is responsible for organising government meetings and business in the House. This office is not enshrined in the constitution and provided under the Rules of Rajya Sabha.
- Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
- Besides Mr. Nadda, 11 other members of the Upper House of Parliament are in the Union Council of Ministers.
JP Nadda’s political career
Nadda started his political journey as a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ wing of the party’s ideological fount, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He was a three-term legislative assembly member in Himachal Pradesh starting 1993. In April 2012, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from the state. In 2014 when the BJP came to power at the Centre, he was appointed as Union minister for health and family welfare and was renominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2018.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams
- Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha: Harivansh Narayan Singh, JD(U); since 9 August 2018
- President of India: Droupadi Murmu, BJP; since 25 July 2022
- Chairman of the Rajya Sabha: Jagdeep Dhankhar, BJP; since 11 August 2022
- Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha: Jagat Prakash Nadda, BJP; since 24 June 2024
- Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha: Mallikarjun Kharge, INC; since 16 February 2021