JOIN USOver 100 lawmakers take oath on first day of Karnataka Assembly
Over 100 newly elected lawmakers took oath on Day One of the first session of the 16th Assembly on Monday. The session was witness to many curious incidents.
Despite clear instructions from Protem Speaker R V Deshpande to take oath only in the name of God or Constitution, several of them took oath in the name of their senior leaders to stress their loyalties.
Two Congress members - Basavaraj Shivaganga from Channagiri and Dr H D Ranganath from Kunigal - took oath in the name of God and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
Samrudhi Manjunath, the JD(S) legislator from Mulbagal, took oath in the name of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda.
Hindutva & Gaumata
Senior BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal took oath in the name of Hindutva and Gaumata.
Bhagirathi Murulya, elected on a BJP ticket from Sullia, took oath in the name of her family deities, to which the chief minister raised objection.
The protem speaker directed the member to take oath just in the name of God.
First-timer Pradeep Eshwar, from Chikkaballapur constituency, took oath in the name of Shivakumara Swami of Siddaganga Mutt.
Buddha, Basava. Ambedkar
Some members took the name of Buddha, Basava and Ambedkar, while taking oath.
Three MLAs - Nikhil Katti, Raheem Khan and Kaneez Fatima - took oath in English.
Chief Minister Siddaramiah took oath in the name of God, while his deputy D K Shivakumar took oath in the name of his favourite deity Gangadhar Ajjayya.
Many took oath in the name of voters. They included U T Khader, but they were also told to take in the name of God or the Constitution by the Assembly secretary.
Stalwarts missed
Young MLAs were the centre of attraction in the House. At the same time, the House missed the presence of senior leaders like B S Yediyurappa, K S Eshwarappa, J C Madhuswamy, C T Ravi, Jagadish Shettar and V Somanna.
Initiatives that aroused interest
* Soon after taking oath, Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar went to each and every MLA and greeted them. Interestingly, he even greeted his political rival Ramesh Jarkiholi. He posed for photos with former CM Basavaraj Bommai, Janardhan Reddy and a few others.
* C K Ramamurthy of BJP, who won from Jayanagar against Congress' Sowmya Reddy by a wafer thin margin of 16 votes, took blessings of senior Congress member Ramalinga Reddy in the House. Incidentally, Sowmya is Ramalinga's daughter.
* Zameer Ahmed Khan, who was absent for the session, took a secret oath at the Speaker's office in the afternoon. He had faced flak for taking oath as minister in English on Saturday.