As 18th Lok Sabha opens NEET looks likely to keep the govt. busy
INDIA bloc displays copies of the Constitution in a show of strength as the PM is sworn in
The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha began on Monday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, taking oath as a member in the newly constituted lower House.
On the first day, as many as 262 members took their oaths. As the leader of the House, Prime Minister Modi was the first to take oath, in Hindi, amid chants of “Jai Shri Ram” from the Treasury benches.
PM Modi, senior Ministers take oath as members of 18th Lok Sabha
Mr. Modi, who is serving his third term as Prime Minister, took oath as the Lok Sabha member from Varanasi. While the PM was taking the oath, Opposition members rose to their feet, waving copies of the Constitution.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was in the front row, also displayed a copy of the Constitution but did not get up.
Will not allow attack on Constitution: Rahul Gandhi on PM Modi’s remarks
Opposition MPs were up on their feet with copies of the Constitution while Home Minister Amit Shah was taking oath.
NEET surfaces
Opposition members greeted Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan with slogans of “NEET”, referring to the recent paper leak and irregularities with the NEET exam.
The proceedings were chaired by pro tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab, who invited the panel of chairpersons to take oath soon after Mr. Modi. However, as reported by The Hindu earlier, Opposition leaders K. Suresh (Congress), T.R. Baalu (DMK) and Sudip Bandyopadhyay (Trinamool Congress), did not turn up when their names were called out.
Mr. Mahtab was administered his oath as a member of the new Lok Sabha and pro tem Speaker at the Rashtrapati Bhavan by President Droupadi Murmu.
The Congress and the INDIA bloc had objected to Mr. Mahtab’s appointment, contending that the claim of eight-term member Mr. Suresh, a Dalit leader, has been overlooked. Mr. Suresh took his oath later when members from Kerala took their oaths.
INDIA bloc’s show of strength
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with party leader Sonia Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders show copies of the Constitution of India during their protest at the Parliament House complex on the first day of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, in New Delhi, on June 24, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Before the start, in a show of strength, INDIA bloc MPs assembled outside the Parliament building holding copies of the Constitution and shouted, “save democracy,” “save the Constitution.”
Opposition leaders including the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Trinamool Congress’ Sudip Bandyopadhyay, and the DMK’s T.R. Baalu gathered at the spot where Mahatma Gandhi’s statue once stood in the Parliament complex.
“The attack that Pradhan Mantri ji and [Home Minister] Amit Shah subjected the Constitution to is not acceptable. We will not allow that to happen and that is why we held the Constitution while taking out oaths. Our message is reaching the people, and no force can touch the Constitution of India,” Mr. Gandhi told reporters.
Ministers take oath
The panel of chairpersons were followed by ministers of state with independent charge in taking their oath [MoS (I/c)], and finally the ministers of state. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, and Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal were among those from the Cabinet who took oath. Thereafter, the names of members were called out in alphabetical order of the States and Union Territories, beginning with Andaman and Nicobar.
The oath-taking witnessed a display of linguistic diversity, with newly elected MPs taking their oaths in Sanskrit, Hindi, Dogri, Bengali, Assamese, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia besides English. First time MP and daughter of late Sushma Swaraj, Bansuri Swaraj, was among the MPs who took their oath in Sanskrit. While several MPs took their oath in their mother tongue, BJP MP from Saran (Bihar) Rajiv Pratap Rudy rued the fact that he could not take the oath in Bhojpuri as it is not part of the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
Three members missed the ceremony despite their names being called. One of them is Abdul Rashid Sheikh, known as Engineer Rashid, who could not take oath as he has been in jail since 2019 after being charged by the NIA in a terror-funding case. The other two MPs are independent member Pappu Yadav and the YSR Congress party’s Y.S. Avinash Reddy.
Farrmers’ leader and CPI(M) MP from Sikar in Rajasthan, Amra Ram, arrived at Parliament in a tractor to take oath. However, he was stopped close to the Parliament gate by the police. He said the Delhi Police had not permitted farmers into Delhi for 13 months, but “Today, a farmer and his tractor have reached Parliament.”
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