12th House takes oath in six languages

It was English for Badruddin Ajmal of the Assam United Democratic Front. For the 12 MLAs of the Bodoland People’s Progressive Front.

It was English for Badruddin Ajmal of the Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF). For the 12 MLAs of the Bodoland People’s Progressive Front (BPPF), the party which proved crucial to the Congress in stitching up a coalition, it was a proud moment, using mother tongue Bodo.

As many as six languages were used when the new members of the 12th House were sworn in today. Other than English and Bodo, Hindi, Nepali, Bangla and Assamese were used by different members, bringing out the complex linguistic combination of the new House.

For the first time in the House, Bodo was used to take the oath, when the BPPF members were sworn in. The language was included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution only in 2003.

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However, while the BPPF members were making history, another member, elected on a Congress ticket, Deban Daimary, chose to be left out. He took his oath in Assamese rather than his mother tongue, Bodo.

Sanjay Raj Subba, younger brother of Congress MP and controversial ‘‘lottery king’’ Mani Kumar Subba, who defeated the Congress nominee at Naoboicha, took his oath in Nepali, while Dinesh Prasad Goala chose Hindi.

Several MLAs, most of them from the Bengali-dominated Barak Valley took their oath in Bangla. And that included Gautam Roy, a Congress stalwart, whose son Rahul Roy is making his debut this time, making them the first father-son duo in the Assam Assembly.

Perhaps the most noted person in today’s ceremony was Badruddin Ajmal, the Mumbai-based international perfume merchant, whose newly-formed AUDF had given the Congress a run for its money in the polls. Ajmal, educated at the famous Darul Uloom, Deoband, took his oath in English. Not very surprising, when one has a look at his party’s website, which says he had his secondary education at a convent school in Mumbai.