41 TAKE OATH AS RS MEMBERS, JAITLEY BACK AS LEADER OF HOUSE

NEWDELHI: Finance minister Arun Jaitley was once again named the leader of the House as 41 members, including 18 who were re-elected, took oath in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Among the ministers who took the oath of affirmation were Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar, Jagat Prakash Nadda and Dharmendra Pradhan, while the prominent new members included Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the Congress who won from West Bengal with the support of the Trinamool Congress, CM Ramesh of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and V Muraleedharan of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Saroj Pandey, a BJP MP from Chhattisgarh, took oath from her seat due to a fracture in her leg.

Welcoming the newly elected members, Chairman Venkaiah Naidu said the election to the Upper House of Parliament entails “heavy responsibilities and duties to strengthen the cause of democracy”.

He said the 18 members who were re-elected are well-versed with the “rules, practices, procedures and nuances of the functioning of this House” and that the new members will “soon familiarise themselves with the rules of procedure, etiquette, practice and convention of the House as well as learn from the rich and vast experience of veteran members who followed good practices”.

Venkaiah said the oath-taking ceremony “reflected the rich linguistic diversity of our great country” as members took oath in nine languages of which “eight are Indian languages and mother tongues of the members”.