The maiden session of the 17th Lok Sabha commenced Monday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and Congress president Rahul Gandhi among the 320 of the 542 MPs taking oath during the first day of the two-day long swearing-in ceremony marked by some controversy, slip-ups and slogan shouting.
Linguistic diversity was in full play with the oath being taken in different languages as several newly-elected members sported colourful attire, traditional shawls and headgears while a section wore a saffron look.
As the Leader of the House, Modi was the first to take oath as member of the lower house, nearly four weeks after leading the BJP to a resounding victory in the Lok Sabha polls with the party retaining power winning 303 seats.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah, Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari were among the prominent members who took oath.
The oath was administered by seven-term BJP MP Virendra Kumar shortly after he was sworn in by President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Kumar will also oversee the election of the Lok Sabha speaker on Wednesday.
Addressing the media outside parliament before the commencement of Parliament session, Modi set the tone for the business in the House, saying the opposition need not "bother about their numbers" as their every word is "valuable" to the government.
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He urged all the MPs to be impartial in the House and address issues related to the larger interest of the nation.
"When we come to Parliament, we should forget paksh (treasury) and vipaksh (opposition). We should think about issues with a nishpaksh (impartial) spirit and work in the larger interest of the nation," he said.
When Modi's name was called out by the Secretary General for taking oath, members from the ruling NDA thumped the desk greeting the prime minister with slogans such as "Modi-Modi" and "Bharat Mata ki Jai".
Besides the union ministers who were elected to the Lok Sabha, members from 23 states and union territories, including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar took oath. In all, 320 MPs took oath, according to a Lok Sabha bulletin.
The remaining 222 members will take oath on Tuesday.
In the Monsoon session, a full-fledged Union Budget will be presented on July 5. The session concludes on July 26.
The Lok Sabha at present has 542 elected members.
Elections to Vellore seat in Tamil Nadu was cancelled as the Election Commission felt excessive money power was being used to lure voters in that constituency. A fresh date is yet to be announced.
BJP MP from Bhopal Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur created a controversy when she suffixed the name of her spiritual guru with hers while taking oath, drawing objections from the Opposition.
Amid protests and shoutings, Thakur said that it was her full name and she had mentioned that she had already mentioned her full name in the form filled for oath taking.
The mention of Swami Purna Chetnanand Avdheshanand Giri as suffix to her name Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur evoked sharp reaction from the Opposition members who said this was not permitted.
Amid noise and objections, pro-tem Speaker Virendra Kumar ruled that only the name written in her election certificate issued by the returning officer would go on record.
Thakur, the Malegaon blast accused, took oath in Sanskrit and ended it with 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' slogan.
Thakur defeated Congress stalwart Digvijay Singh to enter the Lok Sabha for the first time.
Later, BJP members continued to raise 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' slogans.
Amid thumping of desks by Congress members, Rahul Gandhi took oath in English. He won the election from Wayanad in Kerala.
He had also contested from the Gandhi bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh but was defeated by BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani.
Gandhi, who got elected for the fourth time to the Lower House in a row, however, forgot the customary practice of signing the Lok Sabha register and started walking towards his seat after taking oath.
He was immediately called back by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the deputy Leader of the House, and also Lok Sabha staff to sign the register.
Sonia Gandhi, who was present when Rahul took oath in English, thumped the desk along with other Congress members after his name was called for taking oath.
The Congress president came late to the Lok Sabha and was not present in the House when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet colleagues took oath as members.
Irani received the longest applause when she took the oath
As soon as she was called for oath taking, ruling BJP members, including Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Shah, other union ministers and MPs were seen enthusiastically thumping the desks for a long time.
While the prime minister and most of union ministers took oath in Hindi, Union Ministers Harsh Vardhan, Sripad Naik, Ashwini Chaubey and Pratap Chandra Sarangi did so in Sanskrit.
BJP member from Bihar Jarnardhan Singh Sigriwal expressed desire to take oath in Bhojpuri, but the Lok Sabha Secretary General said the language was not in the eight schedule of the Constitution.
Union Ministers Babul Supriyo and Debashree Choudhury, who hail from West Bengal, were greeted by fellow BJP MPs with "Jai Shri Ram" slogans when they were called to take oath as Lok Sabha Members.
The cheer was apparently to take a dig at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who had allegedly objected to uttering the slogan during some incidents in the state.
When Union minister of state for environment and forest Supriyo was called to take oath, BJP members loudly cheered with "Jai Shri Ram".
The slogan was repeatedly chanted when Choudhury, Union minister of state for women and child development, was called to take oath.
At least seven persons were detained on March 31 for chanting "Jai Shri Ram" slogan when Banerjees motorcade passed through North 24 Parganas district of the state.
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