NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar was among nine MPs who took oath as members of the Rajya Sabha on Monday. The oath was administered by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar in the Rajya Sabha chamber.
Jaishankar took the oath in English. This is his second term as a Rajya Sabha MP. He was first elected in 2019. Besides Jaishankar, the other BJP members who took oath are Babubhai Jesangbhai Desai (Gujarat), Kesridevsinh Digvijaysinh Jhala (Gujarat), and Nagendra Ray (West Bengal). Five Trinamool Congress MPs — Derek O’Brien, Dola Sen, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Prakash Chik Baraik and Samirul Islam — took the oath. Of the nine members who took oath on Monday, Nagendra Ray, Prakash Chik Baraik, Samirul Islam, Kesridevsinh Digvijaysinh Jhala and Babubhai Jesangbhai Desai are newly elected. Four members — O’Brien, Sen, Islam and Ray — took oath in Bengali, while three members took it in Hindi and two in English.
Leader of the House and commerce minister Piyush Goyal, secretary general of Rajya Sabha P C Mody along with other secretariat officials were present. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh was present as a proxy for the party president and leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
After the ceremony, Dhankhar invited the families of the new MPs to his chamber and it was mostly an all-women delegation. They included Jaishankar’s Japanese wife, daughters of O’Brien and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, wives of Baraik and Islam and the mother and aunt of Sen. The cynosure of all eyes was Islam’s toddler daughter as she accompanied her father into Dhankhar’s chamber. With most new MPs having daughters, there was also an emotional moment where it was mentioned how the world is a better place with daughters in them, said one of the MPs.
Jaishankar took the oath in English. This is his second term as a Rajya Sabha MP. He was first elected in 2019. Besides Jaishankar, the other BJP members who took oath are Babubhai Jesangbhai Desai (Gujarat), Kesridevsinh Digvijaysinh Jhala (Gujarat), and Nagendra Ray (West Bengal). Five Trinamool Congress MPs — Derek O’Brien, Dola Sen, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Prakash Chik Baraik and Samirul Islam — took the oath. Of the nine members who took oath on Monday, Nagendra Ray, Prakash Chik Baraik, Samirul Islam, Kesridevsinh Digvijaysinh Jhala and Babubhai Jesangbhai Desai are newly elected. Four members — O’Brien, Sen, Islam and Ray — took oath in Bengali, while three members took it in Hindi and two in English.
Leader of the House and commerce minister Piyush Goyal, secretary general of Rajya Sabha P C Mody along with other secretariat officials were present. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh was present as a proxy for the party president and leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
After the ceremony, Dhankhar invited the families of the new MPs to his chamber and it was mostly an all-women delegation. They included Jaishankar’s Japanese wife, daughters of O’Brien and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, wives of Baraik and Islam and the mother and aunt of Sen. The cynosure of all eyes was Islam’s toddler daughter as she accompanied her father into Dhankhar’s chamber. With most new MPs having daughters, there was also an emotional moment where it was mentioned how the world is a better place with daughters in them, said one of the MPs.