Awe, nostalgia, duty & expectations: First-time members get feel of House

Saroj is the daughter of three-time SP MP and current MLA from UP’s Kerakat, Toofani Saroj. She won from her father’s erstwhile constituency Machhlishahr. She had come to the House with her parents and two of her siblings.

Another young MP — LJP’s Sambhavi Choudhary, 25, the daughter of Bihar minister Ashok Choudhary — came to the House with her husband and three other family members. She represents Bihar’s Samastipur constituency. “I was overwhelmed when I entered the House… It gave me a sense of responsibility. I come from a poor state and from the Dalit community. People have high hopes from me as a Dalit MP and as a woman. I have to keep up with the expectations,” she said.

While most MPs flew in on Sunday, Sambhavi has been in Delhi since June 6. She is currently staying in a rented accommodation where she had earlier stayed as a student.

BJP’s first-time MP from Jaipur, Manju Sharma, 61, called her first day in Parliament an experience of a lifetime. And to share the joy of the “historic moment”, she came to the premises with her son and daughter-in-law. Sharma said the volunteers guided her to her seat inside the House and she did not feel any inconvenience despite it being her first day. “It was a very good experience for me as I got the opportunity of meeting the senior leaders of my party and the other parties too under one roof. I met Nadda-ji (BJP’s national president J P Nadda) and Union ministers Bhupender Yadav and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat,” Sharma said.

Congress MP Sanjana Jatav, BJP MP Kangana Ranaut and ASP MP Chandrashekhar Azad in Parliament, Monday. (PTI)

Independent MP from Ladakh Haneefa Jan reached Parliament about 10 minutes late as he landed in Delhi at 9 am and had to go to Ladakh Bhawan first before reaching Lok Sabha.

“I met several leaders, including two MPs of J&K, and interacted with them. I met former minister Anurag Thakur and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and recalled the memories of past meetings with both leaders. There were several leaders with whom I met for the first time,” said Haneefa, who came to the House with his son.

About 280 MPs have been elected for the first time in the 18th Lok Sabha, an increase from the 2019 elections when 267 members were first-time MPs. Some of the prominent first-time MPs include BJP’s Kangana Ranaut from Mandi, Azad Samaj Party leader Chandrashekhar Azad from Nagina, Congress’s Sanjana Jatav from Bharatpur, SP’s Iqra Hasan from Kairana and TMC’s Rachna Banerjee from Hooghly.

First-time TDP MP Appalanaidu Kalisetti, 50, from Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh arrived on a bicycle, his party’s election symbol. “The cycle also represents the common man, the poor and the backward people of this country. It was a reminder that I represent such people,” Kalisetti said.

His party colleague and former Lok Sabha speaker GMC Balayogi’s son G M Harish, 33, said he thought of the railway line which still eludes Amalapuram, his seat. “I feel responsible and elated,” he said.