The first session of the parliament or the 17th Lok Sabha began on Monday (June 17) after the national elections, during which several newly-elected MPs, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, had taken the oath.
BJP MP Virendra Kumar took oath as the pro tem Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha at Rashtrapati Bhawan earlier today.
Delhi: BJP MP Virendra Kumar takes oath as the Protem Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha, at Rashtrapati Bhawan. pic.twitter.com/74wzfKf9uw
— ANI (@ANI) June 17, 2019
The election for Speaker of the Lok Sabha will take place on June 19, and President Ram Nath Kovind will address the joint session of Parliament on June 20.
Ahead of the parliament session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an all-party meeting on Sunday to seek support on the smooth running of parliament.
Here are some major points
- PM Modi read out the oath in Lok Sabha, saying, “I, Narendra Damodardas Modi, who has been appointed as the member of Lok Sabha, pledge that I would abide by constitution in delivering my duties.”
Took oath as a Member of Parliament.
It is an honour to serve in Parliament and I look forward to healthy deliberations with fellow MPs. pic.twitter.com/oCXqLk3Qkm
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 17, 2019
2. Among other lawmakers who took oath today were Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Smriti Irani.
3. The linguistic diversity of India was also witnessed in the lower house of the parliament today when members took the oath in various languages. Union Ministers and BJP MPs Dr Harsh Vardhan and Dr Jitendra Singh took oath in Sanskrit and Dogri, respectively, as members of 17th Lok Sabha.
Delhi: Union Ministers and BJP MPs Dr Harsh Vardhan and Dr Jitendra Singh took oath in Sanskrit and Dogri, respectively, as members of 17th Lok Sabha. pic.twitter.com/Rrx1OpzYq8
— ANI (@ANI) June 17, 2019
4. Congress president Rahul Gandhi also took oath as a member of the 17th Lok Sabha today. The Congress president, however, forgot to sign the parliament register and got to it only after being reminded by officials and several lawmakers including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
5. Union Minister Smriti Irani, who defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, received the longest applause when she took oath as member of the 17th Lok Sabha on Monday.
5. 313 MPs took oath as members of 17th Lok Sabha
ALSO READ: Linguistic diversity on full show as new MPs take oath in Lok Sabha
Ahead of the parliament session, PM Modi asked the opposition to not bother about numbers. “When we come to parliament, we should forget about paksh and vipaksh (government and opposition). We should think about issues with a nishpaksh (impartial) spirit and work in the larger interest of the nation,” he said.
The first session of Lok Sabha will provide 30 sittings spread over 40 days in Lok Sabha and 27 sittings spread over 37 days sittings in the Rajya Sabha.
The government will introduce several key bills, including triple talaq. The budget will be presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 5.