As many as 146 newly elected candidates of the ruling Congress and the Opposition parties took oath as members of the 14th Legislative Assembly here on Wednesday.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah took the oath first, followed by Cabinet Ministers and others.
Pro-tem Speaker Malikayya Guttedar administered the oath of office to the elected members.
Earlier, Governor H.R. Bhardwaj administered oath of office as pro-tem Speaker to Malikayya Guttedar at the Raj Bhavan.
All new members were welcomed to the Assembly with red roses at the entrance of the House by the staff.
In many names
While some members took oath in the name of God, others chose to take oath in the names of their parents, 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara and B.R. Ambedkar. Some also took oath in the name of Truth.
The former Chief Minister and Karnataka Janata Paksha president B.S. Yeddyurappa, the former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and the former Speaker K.G. Bopaiah took oath in a row.
Mr. Yeddyurappa, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T.B. Jayachandra took the oath in the name of God, while Mr. Siddaramaiah and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy took theirs in the name of Truth.
Y. Ramakka (BJP) took oath in the name of Ambedkar, while Social Welfare Minister H. Anjaneya took oath in the name of Basaveshwara.
Several members, including first-time Ministers, came late to the House on the first day of the session.
Leader of the Opposition H.D. Kumaraswamy, Ramesh Kumar and the former Minister D.K. Shivakumar were among those who did not attend.
While Sunil Kumar (BJP) entered the House wearing a saffron shawl, two members from Belgaum, Sambhaji Lakshman Patil (Belgaum South) and Arvind Chandrakant Patil (Khanapur) — both Independents, wore headgear in saffron in the Maratha style and took oath.
English and Marathi
Though a majority of members took oath in Kannada, Ashok Kheny of Karnataka Makkala Paksha took oath in English and Arvind Chandrakant Patil and Mr. Sambhaji Lakshman Patil in Marathi. The Chief Minister, Cabinet Ministers and members exchanged greetings after taking oath. Mr. Siddaramaiah shook hands with Mr. Yeddyurappa and Mr. Shettar, besides B.R. Patil (KJP) and former BJP Ministers.
Before taking oath, Mr. Jayachandra and Congress member Basavaraj Rayaraddi stood up to speak. But Mr. Guttedar and Mr. Bopaiah objected to it, stating that new members become eligible to speak only after they took oath.
