New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple Yadav, Hema Malini, Asaduddin Owaisi and Kanimozhi Karunanidhi were among the prominent members to be sworn in on the second day of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha.
As many as 535 members took oath on Monday and Tuesday with seven yet to complete the process.
The seven MPs who are yet to take oath include Shatrughan Sinha, Deepak Adhikari and Sheikh Nurul Islam (all TMC), Afzal Ansari (SP) and Independents Amritpal Singh and Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer Rashid. Singh and Rashid are currently in jail.
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.
Several Opposition MPs took the oath while holding a copy of Constitution.
Gandhi also said “Jai Hind, Jai Samvidhan” after taking oath. After greeting the Chair, he also shook hands with a House official before getting down from the podium.
Chandrashekhar, Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Nagina, had an longer list of slogans at the end of his oath. Holding a copy of Constitution, he said “Jai Bhim, jai Bharat, jai Samvidhan, jai Mandal, jai Johar, jai jawan, jai kisan”.
After taking oath, Supriya Sule (NCP-Sharad Pawar) touched Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab’s feet and also sought blessings from Union minister Nitin Gadkari.
Several leaders from the Samajwadi Party, including Dimple Yadav, Akshay Yadav, Rambhual Nishad, Utkarsh Verma, Naresh Uttam Patel hailed socialism, Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Akhilesh.
Bareilly MP from BJP, Chhatra Pal Singh Gangwar meanwhile triggered another controversy when he raised a slogan hailing ‘Hindu Rashtra’, which was objected to by opposition benches.
Sasikant Senthil, Congress MP from Thiruvallur in Tamil Nadu said “stop the shameful atrocities against minorities, dalits and advisais.”
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, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the DMK’s TR Baalu, the TMC’s Mahua Moitra and the Shiromani Akali Dal’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, the Congress MP from Inner Manipur, took oath in Manipuri while holding a copy of Constitution. After being sworn in, he shook hands with Gandhi.
When the name of Alfred S Arthur, the Congress’s 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.
PTI