The oath ceremony in the 17th Lok Sabha on June 18 was marked by raising of slogans such as Jai Sri Ram, Jai Maa Durga, Jai Bhim and Allahu Akbar by members with some even engaging in raillery and heated exchanges. The sloganeering went unabated ignoring the Chair’s direction to desist from it. However, the number of Jai Sri Rams, Bharat Mata Ki Jais and Vande Matarams hugely outnumbered the Jai Maa Durgas, Jai Bhims and Allahu Akbars.
Some of the members especially from West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh began their oath with sloganeering despite the presiding officer ruling that that no slogans will go on record.
When the members from the West Bengal, especially those belonging to Trinamool Congress, took oath, those from the Treasury benches teased them with the Jai Sri Ram slogan.
Trinamool members countered with slogans like Jai Hind, Jai Bengal, Jai Maa Durga and Jai Mamata.
Kalyan Banerjee of Trinamool recited Durga Path after concluding his oath while his party colleague Abu Taher Khan began his oath with Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim (In the name of Allah the most beneficent, the most merciful) and ended with an Allahu Akbar.
Oath taking ceremony concludes
Oath taking exercise that took place amid loud, competitive and at times acrimonious, slogan shouting by members of the BJP, BSP and Trinamool Congress concludes. House adjourned till 11 a.m. tomorrow.
Competitive sloganeering
Now members from West Bengal take oath. Nisith Pramanik (BJP, Coochbehar) takes oath in Bengali. John Barla (BJP, Alipurduar) takes oath in Hindi. Both end their oath with Jai Sri Ram slogans.
BJP members from the State are greeted with a loud Jai Sri Ram from the Treasury benches.
Raju Singh Bista (BJP, Darjeeling) takes oath in Nepali. Sukanta Majumdar (BJP) takes oath in Sanskrit. Heroes of Bengal says a voice in the background.
Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury (Congress, Malda South) takes oath in English.
Khalilur Rahman (Trinamool) begins his oath with a bismillah... (in the name of god...) and takes oath in Bengali. Abu Taher Khan (Trinamool) too follows the same line and replies with an Allahu Akbar for slogans of Jai Sri Ram.
The presiding officer directs that no slogans will go on record. While many BJP MPs ended their oath with chants of ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’, Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal Shafiqur Rahman Barq objects to Vande Mataram slogan, drawing protests from members of treasury benches who demands an apology from him.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Congress) takes oath. He will be the party's leader in the Lok Sabha. Though there was no official announcement until the filing of this report, Mr. Chowdhury was seated on the front row seat reserved for Leader of the Single Largest Party in Opposition in the post lunch proceedings. Mr. Chowdhury is a fifth term Lok Sabha member from Bengal and represents the Murshidabad Lok Sabha and had been the MoS Railways in Manmohan Singh's second term.
Shantanu Thakur (BJP) wants to takes oath in the name of Purnabramha Harichand Thakur, but told not to do. He can only take oath in the names accepted by the Constitution. Poornabrahma is my God, he says and even tries "in the name of god Purnabramha Harichand Thakur", but again told not to do so. Finally completes his oath in English with "in the name of God".
BJP’s Shantanu Thakur from West Bengal takes oath as member of Lok Sabha on June 18, 2019. Photo: LSTV
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (Trinamool) comes in with a combative Jai Kali to slogans of Jai Sri Ram and completes her oath with a loud Jai Hind and Jai Bangla.
Choudhury Mohan Jatua (Trinamool) begins with Jai Hind, Jai Mamata and takes his oath in Bengali.
Abhishek Banerjee (Trinamool) begins with a thanks to the Treasury benches' Jai Sri Ram slogans and goes on to complete his oath with a Jai Hind and a Jai Bangla. Meets with combative, loud Jai Sri Ram slogans.
Mala Roy (Trinamool) completes her slogans with a Jai Mamata.
Senior Trinamool leader Sudip Bandhyopadhyay keeps decorum, completes oath without any slogan.
Kalyan Banerjee (Trinamool) recites the Durga Path (a compilation of verses explaining the story of Durga) and then ends with a loud Jai Hind and Jai Bangla. His colleague Aprupa Poddar takes oath in Hindi and ends with a Mamata Zindabad. When a Treasury member congratulates her for taking oath in Hindi, she shouts at them saying, “Hindi is national language and you guys have forgotten it”.
BJP leader Dilip Ghosh takes oath in Sanskrit. Loud cheers go up as he arrives to take oath. Mr. Ghosh says Bhata Mata Ki Jai Sri Ram.
Akhilesh Yadav takes oath
Pro tem Speaker Virendra Kumar is back in the Chair. Bhojpuri star Ravi Kishan (BJP, Gorakhpur) makes an enquiry whether he can take oath in Bhojpuri, and says koi baat nahin to the response from the Lok Sabha Secretary-General, and take oath complete with religious slogans.
Sangeeta Azad (BSP, Lalganj) too takes the Jai Bhim.... slogan.
SP leader Akhilesh Yadav takes oath. No slogans like BJP and BSP members from his State.
A BJP member creates a ruffle by place Yogi ahead of Modi in his slogan saying Jai Jogi, Jai Modi.
BJP ally Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel doesn't join the BJP and BSP members’ slogan bandwagon, and completes her oath as it is.
Chair requests no slogans during oath taking, U.P. BJP members ignore
Kodikunnil Suresh is in Chair. His appeal to members to avoid slogans has met with opposition. Despite his appeal Bharat Mata Ki Jai has been raised as Bhagpat member Satya Pal Singh take oath. Mr. Singh took oath in Sanskrit. The next member Mahesh Sharma himself added BMKJ after his oath.
Chair's request completely ignored. Member after member from U.P. add slogans. Chair says slogans won't go on record.
Hema Malini adds radhe radhe, krishnam vandham... after reading the oath.
Fatehpur Sikri BJP member adds Giriraj Maharaj ki jai .
After a long list of BJP members comes Kunwar Danish Ali of the BSP. He takes oath in English in the name of Allah. He adds Jai Hind, Jai Bhim, Jai Samajvad, Ja Kisan. And from the benches comes a voice Jai Karnatak, apparently referring to his former party JD(S) and his Karnataka-based politics before joining the BSP.
Feroze Varun Gandhi, Pilibhit, takes oath in Hindi and he avoids any slogans. BJP MP from Dhaurahra, Rekha Verma is another exception. She ended with just a dhanyavad. SP member Jai Praksh too takes oath, without slogans.
Feroze Varun Gandhi (BJP, Pilibhit) takes oath as member of the Lok Sabha on June 18, 2019. Photo: LSTV
Swami Sakshi Maharaj takes oath in Sanskrit, and ends with a BMKJ and Jai Jai Sri Ram.
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi takes oath.
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi takes oath as member of the Lok Sabha on June 18, 2019. Photo: LSTV
Maneka Gandhi (BJP, Sultanpur) takes oath in Hindi and doesn't add any slogan despite being goaded by the Treasury benches.
Members from Uttar Pradesh take oath. Veteran parliamentarian Mulayam Singh Yadav takes oath. He is one of the five members representing Samajwadi Party in the lower House.
Many members are missing. They will be taking oath at the end of the day.
BJP's Jagdambika Pal takes oath twice. First time, he forgot to take oath in the name of God.
House is adjourned till 2.20 pm
Chevella TRS MP Ranjith Reddy takes his oath in English. Mahabubnagar Member Manne Srinivas Reddy takes his oath next. Pothuganti Ramulu from the TRS, representing Nagarkurnool, follows Mr. Reddy.
Uttam Kumar Reddy, the Congress Member from Nalgonda is sworn in. Komati Reddy Venkat Reddy of the Congress is up next.
Mahabubabad MP Kavitha Malothu takes oath next. Nama Nageshwara Rao of the TRS is sworn in next.
Tripura is up next.
Pratima Bhowmick is sworn in now, followed by Rebati Tripura.
The next State is Uttarakhand. Mala Rajya Lakshmi Shah is the first from this State to take oath.
K. Kanimozhi, the DMK MP from Thoothukudi, takes her oath in Tamil. Tenkasi MP M. Kumar is up next. He is followed by S. Gnanathiraviyam.
H. Vasanth Kumar, the Kanniyakumari MP from Congress, takes his oath next.
Now, the State of Telangana is next.
Soyam Babu Rao, the Adilabad MP takes his oath in Telugu. He is followed by Peddapalle MP Venkatesh Netha Borlakuntla. Mr. Borlakuntla is from the TRS. Sanjay Kumar Bandi from Karimnagar takes oath next.
Nizamabad BJP MP Arvind Dharmapuri takes his oath in English. Mr. Dharmapuri beat incumbent MP Kavitha Kalvakuntla in a constituency with the most number of candidates.
B.B. Patil, the Zaheerabad MP, takes oath next.
He is followed by Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, the Medak TRS Member.
Congress Member Revanth Reddy from Malkajgiri takes his oath now. He reads out his oath from his smartphone.
Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi takes his oath in Urdu.
T.R.V.S. Ramesh, the Member from Cuddalore, takes his oath in Tamil. Thol. Thirumavalavan, the Chidambaram MP, takes his oath.
S. Ramalingam, the Mayiladuthurai MP, takes his oath in Tamil too. M. Selvaraj, the CPI Member from Nagapattinam takes oath next.
S.S. Pazhani Manickam of the DMK is up next. Karthi Chidambaram, the Sivaganga MP, takes oath next. Su. Venkatesan, the CPI (M) Member from Madurai follows him.
P. Ravindranath Kumar from Theni takes his oath next, followed by P. Manickam Tagore from Virudhunagar.
Nawaz Kani from the IUML is up next.
Pon. Gowtham Sigamani takes his oath in Tamil. S.R. Parthiban, the Salem DMK MP, takes oath next. A.K.P. Chinraj, the Namakkal MP, is up next.
A. Ganeshamurthi takes his oath next. K. Subbarayan of the CPI from Tiruppur takes oath in Tamil, and finishes his oath with ‘Long live secularism’ and ‘Long live India’. A. Raja, the Nilgiris MP takes oath next. P.R. Natarajan from Coimbatore takes his oath in Tamil. He finishes his oath asking the workers of the world to unite.
P.K. Shamughasundaram, the Pollachi DMK MP, takes his oath next. P. Velusamy from Dindigul follows him.
Karur MP S. Jothimani of the Congress also takes her oath in Tamil. Su. Thirunavukkarasar of the Congress from Tiruchi takes oath next.
T.R. Parivendhar takes oath next.
Shashi Tharoor, the Thiruvananthapuram MP, takes his oath in English. Indra Hang Subba from Sikkim in his local language.
Tamil Nadu is up now. The DMK won 23 seats making it the third largest party in the parliament after the BJP and the Congress. The Congress won 8, Left parties 4, and AIADMK, VCK and IUML won a seat each.
K. Jayakumar, the Tiruvallur MP from the Congress takes his oath in Tamil. Kalanidhi Veerasami, the DMK MP from Chennai North is the next Member to take oath in Tamil.
Chennai South MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian also takes her oath in Tamil. Chennai Central MP Dayanidhi Maran is up next. Mr. Maran is a former Union Minister.
T.R. Baalu, the Member elected from Sriperumbudur, follows Mr. Maran. G. Selvam, the Kancheepuram DMK MP, takes oath after Mr. Baalu.
S. Jagathrakshakan, the Arakkonam MP, takes oath now. Dr. Chellakumar, the Krishnagiri MP from Congress, takes his oath in Tamil. DNV Senthilkumar S. from the DMK takes oath next. Tiruvannamalai MP C.N. Annadurai takes his oath in Tamil.
M.K. Vishnu Prasad, the Arani constituency MP, also takes his oath in Tamil. D. Ravikumar, the Villupuram DMK MP, is up next.
Hanuman Beniwal from the RLP takes oath next. P.P. Chaudhary, BJP Member from Pali follows him. After him, is Devji Mansingram Patel.
Arjun Lal Meena from Udaipur is the next Member to take oath. Kanakmal Katara is up next. Chandraprakash Joshi from Chittorgarh also takes his oath in Sanskrit. Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari takes her oath next.
BJP Member Subhash Chandra Baheria takes his oath in Sanskrit. Om Birla takes his oath next. Mr. Birla is going to be the new Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Jhalawar-Baran MP Dushyant Singh takes oath next.
Badruddin Ajmal from AIUDF, representing the Dhubri constituency, takes his oath in English.
Now, members from Rajasthan begin taking their oaths. Rajasthan sends 25 MPs to the Parliament, and in the 2019 election, the BJP won 14 seats. The remaining one seat was bagged by its ally Rashtriya Loktantrik Party.
BJP Member Nihal Chand Chauhan from the Ganganagar constituency follows him. Churu Member Rahul Kaswan is up next, followed by Narendra Kumar from the BJP.
Sumedhanand Saraswati takes his oath in Sanskrit. Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is up next. He is the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports. BJP Member Ramchandra Bohra takes his oath in Sanskrit.
Balak Nath of the BJP, representing Alwar, takes oath next, followed by Bharatpur MP Ranjeeta Koli. After this, Manoj Rajoria of the BJP takes oath.
Dausa MP Jaskaur Meena takes oath next. S.S. Jaunapuria is up next.
BJP Ajmer MP Bhagirath Chaudhary also takes oath in Sanskrit.
Gurjeet Singh Aujla from the Congress, who represents Amritsar, takes his oath in Punjabi. Jasbir Singh Gill, from the Khadoor Sahib constituency, follows him. He also takes his oath in Punjabi. Jalandhar MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary also takes his oath in the same language.
Manish Tewary from the Congress follows Mr. Chaudhary. He also takes his oath in Punjabi, reading from a paper that he brought to the House. He is followed by another Member who takes oath in Punjabi, Ravneet Singh Bittu. Fatehpur Sahib Congress MP Amar Singh is up next.
Mohammad Sadique from the Congress takes his oath in Punjabi. The Member represents the Faridkot constituency.
SAD president and Ferozpur MP Sukhbir Singh Badal takes his oath. Bhagwant Mann from the AAP takes oath next. He finishes his oath with a shout of ‘Inquilab zindabad’. Preneet Kaur from the Congress takes oath next.
House is in Session. Pro-tem Speaker Virendra Kumar is in the Chair.
Santosh Pandey from the BJP takes oath. He represents the Rajnandgaon constituency.
Shiv Sena Member Krupal Balaji Tumane takes his oath in Marathi. He is followed by Gadchiroli-Chimur MP Ashok Mahadeorao Nete, who also takes oath in Marathi.
Odisha BJP MP Suresh Pujari takes his oath in Odia. Mr. Pujari represents Bargarh. Sambalpur MP Nitesh Gangdev follows him, and takes his oath in English. The BJP’s Mayurbhanj MP Vishweshwar Tudu takes oath next.
V. Vaithilingam, the former Chief Minister of Puducherry, takes oath as a Member. He reads his oath in Tamil.
Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo from Bolangir constituency. This is the fourth time the BJP Member has won from this constituency.
Members from Punjab are up now. Punjab chose Congress by giving the party 8 MPs. The SAD and BJP won two seats each, while AAP's strength was reduced to 1 from 4.
Sunny Deol, the BJP Gurdaspur MP, walks up next. He takes his oath in English. Mr. Deol is a first-time MP.
Who will lead Opposition ranks?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have reached out to the Opposition parties on Monday asking them not to bother about their numbers in the Lok Sabha, but it would certainly matter when it comes to deciding the Leader of the Opposition.
Sources told The Hindu that the second term of the Modi government would follow its own precedent and would not offer the official post to the Congress since it has only 52 members as against the requirement of 55.
“Unlike last time, when the shortfall was by 11 MPs, this time it is only three MPs. So there were some suggestions that the government should consider. But now the government has decided it will not accord the status to the Congress leader,” a source said.
No five-star luxury for new MPs
Instead of five-star hotels, new Members of Parliament who are in town for the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha that started on Monday are being housed at the Western Court hostel complex, including the new Western Court Annexe that was constructed last year.
As they await allotment of houses, the MPs will not be staying at hotels like previous years, instead they will be accommodated at state bhavans, Western Court and other government facilities, a Lok Sabha Secretariat official said.
