Parliament to operate under Covid protocols during Monsoon Session: Naidu

He urged MPs to uphold the dignity and decorum of the House through meaningful deliberations and abiding by the rules and conventions

The Monsoon Session of Parliament will be held under Covid-19 protocol, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday.

His comments came during an interaction he had with leaders and 27 newly-elected Rajya Sabha MPs who took oath on Friday.

With this, 31 out of the 57 newly-elected MPs have taken oath. Naidu said those MPs who are yet to take oath can vote in the Presidential election to be held on July 18.

He said that from the date of the notification of the winners in the elections to Rajya Sabha, they are deemed to be Members of the House and taking oath is only a prerequisite for the newly elected Members to participate in the proceedings of the House and of its Committees.

Twenty-seven MPs who took oath belong to 10 states. They took oath in ten 10 languages -- Hindi (12), English (4), two each in Sanskrit, Kannada, Marathi and Oriya and one each in Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.

Those who took oath included Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal, Congress' Jairam Ramesh and Mukul Wasnkik, RLD chief Jayant Singh, BJP's Surendra Singh Nagar.

Naidu said the Monsoon Session starting July 18 will also be held as per the Covid-19 protocol conforming with the social distancing and safety norms. He urged the MPs to uphold the dignity and decorum of the House through meaningful deliberations and abiding by the rules and conventions.