Festive atmosphere as members take oath

The first to be sworn in was Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who sat alone. Former deputy PM L K Advani, who shared the first bench with him on Wednesday, had moved to the far-end of the next bench. Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, in that order, sat closer to Modi, on this bench. As on Wednesday, Congress’s floor leader Mallikarjun Kharge occupied the seat meant for the Leader of Opposition notwithstanding the suspense over his party getting this position.

Many members, including Swaraj, Uma Bharti and Harsh Vardhan, all ministers, took their oath in Sanskrit. Advani’s name was called by Pro Tem Speaker Kamal Nath after Modi. Congress president Sonia Gandhi was called after him. She took the oath in almost flawless Hindi.

They were followed by senior members P A Sangma of the NPP, Arjun Charan Sethi of the BJD. Some members came in their traditional attire and took oath in their mother tongue.

BJD MPs applauded when BJP’s Jual Oram read his oath in Oriya.

There was bonhomie as members made it a point to greet both friends and opponents. There were some exceptions too. The chill in their relations was apparent when Sonia and Maneka Gandhi made a feeble attempt to acknowledge each other. Rahul Gandhi chose to sit towards the rear. He was seen engaged in an animated discussion with NCP’s Supriya Sule.

The exercise consumed the whole day. Modi left after ministers had been sworn in.