Members take oath in LS amid bonhomie

It was bonhomie all around as a sizeable chunk of members of the newly-elected 16th Lok Sabha including Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath today.

The country's unity in diversity was in full glare as the House boasting of over 300 first timers - including Modi - saw a festive atmosphere with members donning traditional dress and head gears and many taking oath in their mother tongue.

Attired in spotless white kurta-pyjama, the Prime Minister was the first to take oath amid thumping of desks. He took oath in Hindi in the name of God and was followed by BJP veteran L K Advani.

This was followed by several of his Cabinet colleagues and Congress President Sonia Gandhi taking oath.

With the churning brought out by the elections throwing in contrasts, it was a changed scenario in the House with BJP for the first time coming in with a majority on its own ending the 25-year-long coalition era.

On the opposition side, Congress was the largest party with just 44 members.

Several Union ministers took oath in Hindi in the name of God, with Sushma Swaraj, Uma Bharti and Harsh Vardhan taking oath in Sanskrit.

Sonia Gandhi made the affirmation in Hindi and so did Minister Ram Vilas Paswan of LJP.

Several ministers preferred to take oath in their mother tongue, including D V Sadananda Gowda, Ananth Kumar and G M Siddheshwara, who took oath in Kannada. Sarbananda Sonowal took oath in Assamese and Jual Oram in Odia.

A spirit of democracy was visible in the House as members and leaders who took oath were cheered by even their political detractors.

Many members, including leaders from rival sides, were seen greeting each other after taking oath or making the affirmation.

With the election of the Speaker scheduled tomorrow, the process of oath taking by the all 543 members has to be completed by then.