NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi took oath as MP from Rae Bareli, immediately followed by Kishori Lal Sharma from Amethi, and Akhilesh Yadav from Kannauj, as the triumphant INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh of Samajwadi Party and Congress cornered the focus on the day which rounded off the formality of swearing-in the newly elected members to the Lok Sabha.
As 43 members of UP, 40 from Tamil Nadu, 31 of Maharashtra, 8 from Telangana, and 10 from Punjab belonging to the opposition took oath, the waving of the Constitution, in covers red, white and blue, as a mark of protest against the Modi govt, firmly held centrestage.
Rahul held up the copy of the Constitution, took oath, and rounded it off with “jai samvidhan”. The Congress members broke into “jodo jodo, bharat jodo”, the chant of his two Bharat Jodo Yatras. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who has been seated in the front row along with Rahul and DMK members for two days, was cheered to the podium with loud thumping of the desks, and Rahul Gandhi shook hands with him as did others by his side. Interestingly, when Amethi’s K L Sharma walked up, the Congress members shouted “ab batao”, an exclamation underlining his victory over the BJP stalwart Smriti Irani. Akhilesh’s wife Dimple Yadav too drew wild cheers, as did Kanimozhi of DMK and Supriya Sule of NCP (Pawar). The young Rajasthan MPs Sanjana Jatav and Rahul Kaswan (Congress) and Rajkumar Roat (Bharatiya Tribal Party), Chandrashekhar of Bhim Army, Iqra Chaudhary (SP), Abhishek Banerjee, Mahua Moitra and Yusuf Pathan (TMC) were other names that were watched for different political reasons. Imran Masood of Congress took oath in the name of “Ishwar-Allah”, while Pathan in the name of “Ishwar”.
Screen queen of yesteryears Hema Malini cornered some limelight too, and representing Mathura, she chanted “radhe radhe”. Om Birla, aware that he was going to Chair the house again as Speaker, became the rare BJP MP to greet the opposition benches.
As the day wore on, many SP members hailed “Akhilesh Yadav zindabad” after their oath, with the SP chief acknowledging it with smiles to curious looks from BJP members.
When Alfred S Arthur, Congress’ Outer Manipur MP, was called for taking oath, Rahul Gandhi stood up to shake his hands. Arthur said, “Manipur ko nyay dilayiye aur desh bachaiye.” The other state member Bimol Akoijam too elicited loud calls of “Manipur Manipur”.
As 43 members of UP, 40 from Tamil Nadu, 31 of Maharashtra, 8 from Telangana, and 10 from Punjab belonging to the opposition took oath, the waving of the Constitution, in covers red, white and blue, as a mark of protest against the Modi govt, firmly held centrestage.
Rahul held up the copy of the Constitution, took oath, and rounded it off with “jai samvidhan”. The Congress members broke into “jodo jodo, bharat jodo”, the chant of his two Bharat Jodo Yatras. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who has been seated in the front row along with Rahul and DMK members for two days, was cheered to the podium with loud thumping of the desks, and Rahul Gandhi shook hands with him as did others by his side. Interestingly, when Amethi’s K L Sharma walked up, the Congress members shouted “ab batao”, an exclamation underlining his victory over the BJP stalwart Smriti Irani. Akhilesh’s wife Dimple Yadav too drew wild cheers, as did Kanimozhi of DMK and Supriya Sule of NCP (Pawar). The young Rajasthan MPs Sanjana Jatav and Rahul Kaswan (Congress) and Rajkumar Roat (Bharatiya Tribal Party), Chandrashekhar of Bhim Army, Iqra Chaudhary (SP), Abhishek Banerjee, Mahua Moitra and Yusuf Pathan (TMC) were other names that were watched for different political reasons. Imran Masood of Congress took oath in the name of “Ishwar-Allah”, while Pathan in the name of “Ishwar”.
Screen queen of yesteryears Hema Malini cornered some limelight too, and representing Mathura, she chanted “radhe radhe”. Om Birla, aware that he was going to Chair the house again as Speaker, became the rare BJP MP to greet the opposition benches.
As the day wore on, many SP members hailed “Akhilesh Yadav zindabad” after their oath, with the SP chief acknowledging it with smiles to curious looks from BJP members.
When Alfred S Arthur, Congress’ Outer Manipur MP, was called for taking oath, Rahul Gandhi stood up to shake his hands. Arthur said, “Manipur ko nyay dilayiye aur desh bachaiye.” The other state member Bimol Akoijam too elicited loud calls of “Manipur Manipur”.
