The Prime Minister has also invited all MPs from both houses of Parliament to a dinner on June 20. Noting that there are many new faces in this Lok Sabha, Modi had said the first session of the Lower House of Parliament should begin with "fresh zeal and new thinking".
At the all-party meeting, the Congress had raised with the government issues of unemployment, farmers distress, drought, and press freedom, while also calling for early conduct of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir. The opposition parties demanded discussion on all such issues in Parliament, with the Congress asserting that it is still a "fight of ideologies".
The Prime Minister, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress lawmakers Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, K Suresh, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and TMC leader Derek O'Brien were among those present at the meeting.
BJP MP from Bhopal Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur created a controversy on the first day of 17th Lok Sabha Monday when she suffixed the name of her spiritual guru with hers while taking oath, drawing objections from the Opposition.
Amid protests and shoutings, Thakur said that it was her full name and she had mentioned that she had already mentioned her full name in the form she had filled for oath taking.
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The mention of Swami Purna Chetnanand Avdheshanand Giri as suffix to her name Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur evoked sharp reaction from the Opposition members who said that such a thing was not permitted. She insisted that the suffix was part of her full name, resulting in an uproar from opposition and slogan shouting in her favour from the ruling benches.
Rahul Gandhi comes out of Lok Sabha after taking oath as MP.
Union Ministers Babul Supriyo and Debashree Choudhury, who are from West Bengal, were greeted by fellow BJP MPs with "Jai Shri Ram" slogans when they were called to take oath as Lok Sabha Members.
The cheer was apparently to take a dig at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who had allegedly objected to uttering the slogan during some incidents. (PTI)
Rahul Gandhi takes oath as Lok Sabha member. Even as he lost from his bastion Amethi, he won from Kerala's Wayanad constituency.
BJP Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur takes oath as Lok Sabha MP. Thakur won from the Bhopal seat fighting against Congress heavyweight and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minsiter Digvijaya Singh.
MPs from Gujarat Mahendrabhai Munjpara, Mohanbhai Kalyanji Kundariya, Rameshbhai Lavjibhai Dhaduk take oath as member of Lok Sabha.
Rahul Gandhi tweets on the beginning of his new innings in Parliament as an MP representing Wayanad, Kerala. "I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India," he says.
BJP Parliamentary board to meet at 6 pm today at party headquarters.
The Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 2pm
Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also took oath as Lok Sabha members. Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal was next to be sworn in. She took oath in Punjabi. After Harsimrat, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank took oath. While Dr. Harsh Vardhan took oath in Sanskrit, Pralhad Joshi took oath in Kannada. Arjun Munda, Giriraj Singh, Gajendra Singh Shekawat, and Santosh Kumar Gangwar also took oath.
Kodikunnil Suresh of the Congress was the second to take oath as Lok Sabha member, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There is a strong buzz that the Kerala MP would lead the Congress in the Lok Sabha. Kerala was the lone silver lining in Congress' humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha. In Kerala, the Congress-led UDF won a staggering 19 out of 20 seats.
Union Minister Smriti Irani took oath as Lok Sabha member amid thunderous applause. In the recently-held Lok Sabha elections, Irani defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi from the Amethi constituency.
Following the swearing-in of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Lok Sabha member, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Sadananda Gowda took the oath.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah took oath as Lok Sabha member.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also the leader of the House, takes oath as Lok Sabha Member.
Highlighting the role of an opposition in the democracy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the opposition need not bother about their numbers and urged them to speak actively and participate in the House proceedings. "In Parliament, we should forget 'Paksh', 'Vipaksh' and think about issues with 'nishpaksh spirit', work in larger interest of nation," PM Modi said in his brief address to reporters ahead of the 17th Lok Sabha.
Speaking ahead of the 17th Lok Sabha's first session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "We are working to fulfill people's aspiration. We value the opposition & their role. It's a sign of a healthy democracy to have a strong opposition. I believe that our session will be more productive as opposed to previous times."
Express photo by Renuka Puri
Watch this space for the LIVE webcast of the proceedings of the 17th Lok Sabha
BJP MP Virendra Kumar took oath as the Protem Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Good morning! Welcome to our new Live blog as we bring you all the latest updates from the first session of the newly-elected 17th Lok Sabha.