PM Modi, Senior Ministers Take Oath As MPs In 18th Lok Sabha

On the inaugural day of the 18th Lok Sabha's first session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with his Council of Ministers including Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, swore in as Members of Parliament. Having secured his third consecutive term earlier in the month, Modi, who was re-elected from the Varanasi constituency—a seat he has held since 2014—was the first to take the oath as the leader of the House.

Amidst chants of "Jai Shri Ram" from the treasury benches, Modi took the oath in Hindi. Following him, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, and Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari also took their oaths, all in Hindi. Singh has successfully retained his seat in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, while Shah and Gadkari have returned from their respective constituencies of Gandhinagar, Gujarat, and Nagpur, Maharashtra.

Prior to their oaths, BJP senior members Radha Mohan Singh and Faggan Singh Kulaste, who are to assist the pro-tem speaker in the oath-taking process of the newly elected MPs, were sworn in. They, along with pro-tem speaker B Mahtab, will oversee the oath-taking ceremony scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. However, Congress member K Suresh, T R Baalu of the DMK, and Sudip Bandyopadhyay of the TMC, despite being appointed to the panel of chairpersons alongside Singh and Kulaste, were absent for the oath-taking.

The Congress had taken objection to Mahtab's appointment, contending that the claim of eight-term member Suresh, a Dalit leader, was overlooked. The INDIA bloc has said opposition leaders Suresh, Baalu and Bandopadhyay would not join the panel of chairpersons as a mark of protest.

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Jitan Ram Manjhi and Minister for Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh also took the 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.

Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy took the 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 the oath in Sanskrit.

Earlier in the day, B Mahtab took the oath as a member of the new House as well as that of pro-tem speaker at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Before the proceedings started, all members stood in silence for a few seconds to mark the solemn occasion of the first sitting of the new House.