NEW DELHI: On the second day of the 18th Lok Sabha, 273 MPs took oath, with many of them going beyond the written statement of oath and ending up by chanting slogans related to their respective states, politics and ideology.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was holding a copy of the Indian Constitution while taking the oath. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also took the oath holding a copy of the Constitution.
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, elected from Hyderabad, took his oath in Urdu and ended it with slogans. Similarly, BJP MP from Ghaziabad Atul Garg concluded his oath with sloganeering. DMK MPs took oath in Tamil.
The two MPs from Manipur received standing ovations from Congress and INDIA bloc MPs when they took the oath. Many MPs from Maharashtra, cutting across party lines, ended their oath by chanting slogans. Some MPs taking a photo of a colleague taking oath invited protest from Opposition sides. On several occasions, protem speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab told the House that given the solemn occasion, the members should not depart from their text and add sentences on their own while taking oath. That made little impact on many MPs.
At the end of the day, the Lok Sabha secretariat informed that nothing has gone on record except the oath of the MPs. Seven Lok Sabha MPs are yet to take oath. Shatrughan Sinha, Deepak Adhikari and Nurul Islam of Trinamool, and Shashi Tharoor of Congress were not present in the House on Tuesday. Amritpal Singh, a proKhalistan leader elected from Khadoor Sahib, and Rashid Engineer, elected from Baramulla, were also not present as they are in jail.
SP’s Afzal Ansari was seen in Parliament, but he could not take the oath due to court restrictions.