Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, 25 other newly-elected Rajya Sabha members take oath

NEW DELHI: Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal were among the 27 newly-elected members of Rajya Sabha who took oath as members of the Council of States on Friday.

The members took the oath owing allegiance to the Constitution as required to commence their functioning as MPs, in the presence of Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu in the chamber of Rajya Sabha.

The 27 members are from 10 states and took oath in nine languages - 12 in Hindi, four in English, two each in Sanskrit, Kannada, Marathi and Odia and one each in Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.

Four other members of the total 57 newly-elected MPs had taken oath recently.

During an interaction with some leaders and members of the House after the oath taking ceremony, Naidu clarified that those elected members who are still to take oath also can vote in the presidential election on July 18.

Responding to queries, he elaborated 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 making oath or affirmation is only a prerequisite for the newly-elected members to participate in the proceedings of the House and of its committees.

The newly elected and re-elected members who took oath Friday also include Jairam Ramesh, Vivek K Tankha and Mukul Wasnik (all of Congress), Surendra Singh Nagar, K Laxman, Laxmikant Vajpayee (all BJP), Jayant Chaudhary, Kalpana Saini, Sulata Deo and R Dharmar.

As many as 14 of the 57 members were re-elected to the House.

Addressing the members, the Chairman informed that the ensuing Monsoon Session of the House will also be held according to COVID-19 protocol conforming to the social distancing and safety norms.

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

Naidu advised the new members to make proper use of the ample opportunities that will be available under various instruments of the House and to attend the House regularly during the sessions.