16th Lok Sabha: Modi, Advani and Sonia Among First To Take Oath

The newly elected members of the Lok Sabha took oath on the second day of the 16th Lok Sabha on June 5. Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath, who was sworn in by President Pranab Mukherjee as the pro tem Speaker, administered the oath to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Senior BJP leader LK Advani and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were the next to take oath. All three leaders took the oath in Hindi. They were followed by Arjun Charan Sethi of the Biju Janata Dal, PA Sangma of the National People’s Party and Biren Singh Engti of Congress.
Then the Cabinet ministers of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government took oath as MPs of the new Lok Sabha.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj took her oath in Sanskrit. She was followed by Uma Bharti, the Minister for Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation, who also took her oath in Sanskrit. Even the Union Health Minister, Harsh Vardhan, took oath in Sanskrit. Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar and Minister of State for Civil Aviation, GM Siddeshwara, took oath in Kannada.

However, the BJP MPs were sad and quiet as the sudden and untimely death of the senior party leader Gopinath Munde dampened the mood. The House was adjourned for the day after paying homage to Munde and the oath-taking exercise.

With the Modi wave bringing in many new MPs to the Parliament, the 16th Lok Sabha has a youthful look about it. Despite the sombre atmosphere in the Lower House, three women MPs in the BJP rows were seen clicking pictures on mobiles. It was also the time for warm handshakes as newcomers were welcomed while veterans watched on.

The Congress MPs looked gloomy, though, as they talked about how things went wrong. Some of them believed that the failures of the Manmohan Singh government and the lack of accountability in the party were the main reasons behind the defeat.

The 16th Lok Sabha has 315 first-time MPs, the highest in 30 years, according to data compiled by PRS Legislative, a research group that tracks the working of the Parliament.