LS creates record with 510 members taking oath on single day

The 16th Lok Sabha today may have created a record with 510 members out of an effective strength of 539 taking oath on a single day.

This is perhaps the first time that so many members have taken oath in such a short time, Parliament sources said.

Till this morning, the only one member of the House to have taken oath was Pro Tem Speaker Kamal Nath. He was adminstered oath by President Pranab Mukherjee in Rashtrapati Bhavan, an hour before the 16th Lok Sabha met for the first time yesterday.

Secretary General P Sridharan, who sat through the marathon oath-taking exercise, ensured that it was a swift affair by announcing two names of members each time to speed up the process.

With only 29 members left to take oath, the election of the Speaker is expected to take place early tomorrow. Earlier, the election was scheduled at 1600 hours tomorrow.

BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan will be the Speaker with senior leaders from all parties, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, moving motions today proposing her name for the high office.Mahajan's was the only name that was proposed as the time for filing nomination for the post came to a close at noon today.

The name of AIADMK leader M Thambidurai is doing the rounds for the post of Deputy Speaker. The party supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had a lengthy meeeting with the Prime Minister two days back.