New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and members of his Council of Ministers, including Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, took oath as Members of Parliament on Monday, the first day of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha.
Modi returned to power for the third consecutive term earlier this month. The Prime Minister and his Cabinet were sworn in on June 9.
This is his third term as a Lok Sabha member. Modi retained the Varanasi seat, which he has been winning since 2014. As leader of the House, he was the first to take oath.
Modi took oath in Hindi amid slogans of "Jai Shri Ram" raised by members of the Treasury benches.
Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari were also sworn in as members of the 18th Lok Sabha.
While Singh retained the Lucknow seat in Uttar Pradesh, Shah returned from Gandhinagar in Gujarat and Gadkari from Nagpur in Maharashtra. All three took oath in Hindi.
Before them, senior members Radha Mohan Singh and Faggan Singh Kulaste (both from the BJP), who will help the caretaker president administer the oath to the newly elected MPs, took oath as members of the new House.
They will help acting Speaker B Mahtab lead the House when members are sworn in on Monday and Tuesday.
Congress member K Suresh (Congress), T R Baalu (DMK) and Sudip Bandyopadhyay (TMC), who were called to take oath as they were also named as panel of presidents like Singh and Kulaste, did not turn up to take oath .
The Congress had objected to Mahtab's appointment, maintaining that the claim of eight-term member Suresh, a Dalit leader, had been overlooked. The INDIA bloc has said opposition leaders Suresh, Baalu and Bandopadhyay would not join the presidents' panel as a mark of protest.
Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and Fisheries and Livestock Minister Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh also took oath as members of the new Lok Sabha.
Manjhi and Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh belong to NDA partners Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and JD-U, respectively.
Steel and Heavy Industries Minister H D Kumaraswamy took oath in Kannada, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Odia, Ports and Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, in Assamese Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu , and Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy in Telugu, and Consumer Affairs Pralhad. Joshi in Kannada.
Kumaraswamy is from the JD-S and Naidu is from the Telugu Desam Party.
Union Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy Shripad Y Naik took oath in Sanskrit.
Earlier in the day, B Mahtab took oath as a member of the new House and as acting president at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Before the debate began, all members were silent for a few seconds to mark the solemn occasion of the first session of the new House.
Modi returned to power for the third consecutive term earlier this month. The Prime Minister and his Cabinet were sworn in on June 9.
This is his third term as a Lok Sabha member. Modi retained the Varanasi seat, which he has been winning since 2014. As leader of the House, he was the first to take oath.
Modi took oath in Hindi amid slogans of "Jai Shri Ram" raised by members of the Treasury benches.
Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari were also sworn in as members of the 18th Lok Sabha.
While Singh retained the Lucknow seat in Uttar Pradesh, Shah returned from Gandhinagar in Gujarat and Gadkari from Nagpur in Maharashtra. All three took oath in Hindi.
Before them, senior members Radha Mohan Singh and Faggan Singh Kulaste (both from the BJP), who will help the caretaker president administer the oath to the newly elected MPs, took oath as members of the new House.
They will help acting Speaker B Mahtab lead the House when members are sworn in on Monday and Tuesday.
Congress member K Suresh (Congress), T R Baalu (DMK) and Sudip Bandyopadhyay (TMC), who were called to take oath as they were also named as panel of presidents like Singh and Kulaste, did not turn up to take oath .
The Congress had objected to Mahtab's appointment, maintaining that the claim of eight-term member Suresh, a Dalit leader, had been overlooked. The INDIA bloc has said opposition leaders Suresh, Baalu and Bandopadhyay would not join the presidents' panel as a mark of protest.
Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and Fisheries and Livestock Minister Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh also took oath as members of the new Lok Sabha.
Manjhi and Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh belong to NDA partners Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and JD-U, respectively.
Steel and Heavy Industries Minister H D Kumaraswamy took oath in Kannada, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Odia, Ports and Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, in Assamese Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu , and Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy in Telugu, and Consumer Affairs Pralhad. Joshi in Kannada.
Kumaraswamy is from the JD-S and Naidu is from the Telugu Desam Party.
Union Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy Shripad Y Naik took oath in Sanskrit.
Earlier in the day, B Mahtab took oath as a member of the new House and as acting president at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Before the debate began, all members were silent for a few seconds to mark the solemn occasion of the first session of the new House.
