1st day of 17th Lok Sabha: PM reaches out to oppn
NEW DELHI: Reaching out to the Opposition on the first day of the monsoon session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said they need not “bother about their numbers” as their every word is “valuable” to the government. He urged all MPs to be impartial in the House and address issues related to the larger interest of the nation.
Meanwhile, also on Monday Leader of the House and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defence minister Rajnath Singh and home minister Amit Shah were among those who took oath as Members of Parliament (MP) of the 17th Lok Sabha.
Addressing the media outside Parliament before the commencement of the first Lok Sabha session, Modi said, “When we come to Parliament, we should forget ‘paksh’ (treasury) and ‘vipaksh’ (Opposition). We should think about issues with a ‘nishpaksh’ (impartial) spirit and work in the larger interest of the nation.”
The PM said that he hopes the Opposition “will speak actively and participate in House proceedings... I am hopeful that this session will be productive.”
“The role of an Opposition and an active Opposition is important perquisite in a parliamentary democracy. The Opposition need not bother about their numbers. I hope they speak actively and participate in House proceedings... their every word... every feeling is valuable to us,” he said.
Talking about the newly constituted Lok Sabha, Modi said it is historic in various terms as maximum number of women MPs have been elected to the lower house since the Independence. Modi said as this is the first session with new members, there will be a flow of new energy and a new enthusiasm will be reflected in the House to realise the aspirations of the people.
The Prime Minister said his government worked on the principle of “sabka sath, sabka vikas” (with all, development for all) during his first term and people reposed their faith in it for a second time. As a result, a government has been re-elected with a clear majority after several decades, he said.
As soon as the House met, the Members stood in silence for a few minutes as per the convention after the assembling of the new House.
When Modi’s name was called out by the secretary general for taking oath, MPs from the ruling NDA thumped the desk greeting the Prime Minister.
While the Prime Minister and most of Union ministers took oath in Hindi, Union ministers Harsh Vardhan, Sripad Naik, Ashwini Chaubey and Pratap Chandra Sarangi took oath in Sanskrit.
While DV Sadananda Gowda and Prahlad Joshi took oath in Kannada, Harsimrat Kaur Badal took oath in Punjabi.
Union ministers Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Raosaheb Patil Danbe took oath in Marathi, Jitendra Singh in Dogri, Babul Supriyo in English, Rameshwar Teli in Assamese and Debashree Choudhury in Bangla.
BJD leader Mehtab took oath in Odiya.
UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, TMC leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, and DMK leaders Kanizmohi and A Raja were present in the House on the occasion.
Before the House met, Virendra Kumar was sworn in as pro tem speaker by President Ramnath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Rahul Gandhi, who was elected from Kerala’s Wayanad, took oath for his fourth term in the Lok Sabha on Monday. Prior to attending the session, the Congress president met his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and sister Priyanka Gandhi at his residence.
Dressed in his staple white kurta-pyjama, Gandhi took oath in English and was seated beside his mother in the Parliament.
“My 4th consecutive term as a Member of the #LokSabha begins today. Representing Wayanad, Kerala, I begin my new innings in Parliament by taking my oath this afternoon, affirming that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India,” he tweeted.