New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was sworn in as the Member of Parliament (MP) from Raebareli on the second day of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha. Gandhi, along with several other opposition MPs, took the oath while holding a copy of the Constitution. He concluded his oath by saying, "Jai Hind, Jai Samvidhan."
DMK leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi took her oath in Tamil. She was sworn in as the MP from Thoothukkudi, Tamil Nadu. Additionally, prominent members such as Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple Yadav, Hema Malini, and Asaduddin Owaisi were also sworn in.
Union minister and BJP leader Narayan Rane, Supriya Sule of the NCP, Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena, and Shrikant Shinde of the Shiv Sena were among the newly-elected members who took oath on Tuesday.
After taking oath, Sule touched Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab's feet and also sought blessings from Union minister Nitin Gadkari. At the outset, the pro-tem speaker said 262 newly-elected members of the Lok Sabha took oath on Monday and the remainder would be sworn in on Tuesday.
Most members sworn in during the first hour were from Maharashtra and took oath in Marathi. A few took their oaths in English and Hindi. The first MP to take oath on Tuesday was Gowaal Kagada Padavi, a Congress member elected from the Nandurbar constituency of Maharashtra. He was followed by the Congress' Dhule MP Shobha Dinesh Bachhav and the BJP's Smita Uday Wagh from Jalgaon.
Among those present in the House for the swearing-in were Union ministers Gadkari, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Pralhad Joshi, DMK's TR Baalu, the TMC's Mahua Moitra and the Shiromani Akali Dal's Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
Many of the MPs raised "Jai Hind", "Jai Maharashtra", "Jai Bheem" and "Jai Shivaji" slogans after taking oath. BJP leader Om Birla, who has been nominated for the speaker's post, also took oath on Tuesday. When Birla, who was also the speaker in the 17th Lok Sabha, came to take his oath, Radha Mohan Singh, who was in the chair, stood up and greeted him. Birla has been representing the Kota constituency in the Lower House since 2014.
On at least one occasion, the pro-tem speaker reminded members not to deviate from the prescribed oath and read aloud only what was written on the paper they had been given.
Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, the Congress MP from Inner Manipur, took oath in Manipuri while holding a copy of Constitution. After being sworn in.
When the name of Alfred S Arthur, the Congress' Outer Manipur MP, was called for taking oath, Gandhi stood up and shook hands with him. After taking his oath in English, Arthur said, "Manipur mei nyay dilaye, desh bachaiye." The swearing-in of both the MPs took place amid "Manipur, Manipur" slogans by Congress members.
Majority of the MPs from Odisha took oath in Odia, with Malvika Devi and Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy, who read their oaths in English, being the only exceptions. MPs from Punjab took oath in Punjabi with many from the Congress and AAP holding copies of the Constitution. AIMIM leader Owaisi hailed a conflict-hit West Asian region after taking oath as a Lok Sabha member, triggering an uproar from the treasury benches that led to the chair striking it off the record.
Owaisi, who has been elected from the Hyderabad seat for his fifth term, took oath in Urdu. He also recited a prayer before taking oath. After his oath, he hailed his state Telangana and BR Ambedkar, apart from raising the AIMIM's slogan for Muslims.
(With PTI Inputs)
