New Delhi: Leader of the House and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah were among those who took oath as Members of the 17th Lok Sabha that commenced here today.
As soon as the House met, the Members stood in silence for a few minutes as per the convention after the assembling of the new House.
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’.
The panel of presiding officers – K Suresh, Brijbhushan Sharan Singh and B Mehtab – took oath as Members after the Prime Minister.
Union Ministers Harsh Vardhan, Sripad Naik and Ashwini Chaubey were amongst those who took oath in Sanskrit. Earlier the new session began with playing of the National Anthem.
Before the House met, Virendra Kumar was sworn in as Pro-Tem Speaker by President Ramnath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Kumar will oversee the oath-taking of newly elected LS members on Monday and Tuesday.
On Wednesday, as soon as a new speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha is elected, his role will cease to exist.
Kumar, 65, won the Lok Sabha election from Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh on a BJP ticket. He was a Minister of state in the previous Modi government.
As pro-tem Speaker, Kumar will preside over the first sitting of the Lok Sabha and administer the oath to the newly elected MPs. He will also oversee the election of the Lok Sabha speaker.
The first session of the newly constituted Lok Sabha will be held from 17 June to 26 July.
“Active Oppn important”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said an active Opposition is important in a parliamentary democracy and they need not bother about their numbers but speak actively and participate in House proceedings.
Speaking to the media ahead of the commencement of the 17th Lok Sabha, Modi said he is hopeful that this session will be productive.
“The role of an Opposition and an active Opposition is important in a parliamentary democracy. The Opposition need not bother about their numbers. I hope they speak actively and participate in House proceedings,” he said.
He urged all MPs to think of the country when 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’ (non-partition) spirit and work in the larger interest of the nation,” he said.
Modi also said the new House has a high number of women MPs. “My experience suggests that when the Parliament functions smoothly, we are able to fulfil numerous aspirations of the people of India,” he said.