41 MPs take oath; RS adjourned for a day

Forty-one newly-elected MPs, including Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar, Jagat Prakash Nadda and Dharmendra Pradhan, on Tuesday took oath in Rajya Sabha, which was adjourned within minutes after the oath-taking was concluded.

BJP MP from Karnataka Rajeev Chandrasekar took oath in Kannada while three Congress lawmakers -- L Hanumanthaiah, G C Chandrasekhar and Nasir Hussain -- did not take the oath of affirmation.

Arun Jaitley  appointed Leader of the House

The oath-taking of 41 of the 59 MPs started soon after Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu announced that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was re-elected from Uttar Pradesh, was appointed Leader of the House following receiving a letter from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar stating that Prime Minister has appointed him as the Leader of the Rajya Sabha. Jaitley did not take oath on Tuesday.

MPs took oath in as many as nine languages, including Hindi, English, Urdu, Telugu and Bengali, which received a mention from Naidu when he complimented the newly-elected MPs. Naidu said it reflected the country's linguistic heritage.

Almost all BJP MPs took oath swearing in the name of God but HRD Minister Javadekar, who was re-elected from Maharashtra, took an oath affirming his allegiance to the Constitution of India. Trinamool Congress' Nadimul Haque swore in the name of 'Allah'.

Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot took oath in Sanskrit while BJP's Saroj Pandey, who fractured her leg, was allowed to take oath from her seat. Besides the three Congress MPs from Karnataka, those who did not take oath included Samajwadi Party's Jaya Bachchan.

The Rajya Sabha sank into pandemonium soon after the oath-taking ceremony was over as MPs from Congress, AIADMK, TDP and DMK rushed into the Well. Opposition parties like Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, CPI(M) and BSP were also on their feet.

While AIADMK raised the Cauvery Board issue and TDP special category status, Congress and other opposition parties were protesting against the police firing and action against Dalit protesters during the Bharat Bandh. As the din continued, Naidu adjourned the House to meet on Wednesday.