Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team of Ministers, including Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, officially began their tenure as members of the 18th Lok Sabha during its inaugural session on June 24.
Following his recent re-election to a third consecutive term as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, representing Varanasi since 2014, took the oath along with his Cabinet on June 9. As the leader of the House, Modi’s oath in Hindi was accompanied by enthusiastic chants of “Jai Shri Ram” from ruling party members.
Opposition lawmakers stood in protest during Modi’s oath, holding up copies of the Constitution. The gesture was repeated when Amit Shah approached for his oath, though they remained seated throughout.
Among the ministers, George Kurian and Ravneet Singh are not affiliated with either House, whereas Nirmala Sitharaman and S. Jaishankar are members of the Rajya Sabha.
Alongside Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari also took the oath as a Lok Sabha member. Singh was re-elected from Lucknow, Shah from Gandhinagar, and Gadkari from Nagpur, all taking their oaths in Hindi.
Other members who were sworn in include Shivraj Singh Chouhan as Agriculture Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar as Power Minister, Jitan Ram Manjhi overseeing Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, and Rajiv Ranjan Singh handling Fisheries and Animal Husbandry. Manjhi and Rajiv Ranjan Singh represent NDA allies Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and JD-U respectively.
Various languages were used during the oath-taking ceremony by ministers such as H.D. Kumaraswamy, Dharmendra Pradhan, Sarbananda Sonowal, K. Rammohan Naidu, G. Kishan Reddy, and Pralhad Joshi. Shripad Y. Naik took his oath in Sanskrit.
Ahead of the session, BJP members Radha Mohan Singh and Faggan Singh Kulaste were sworn in to assist Pro-tem Speaker B. Mahtab in administering oaths to newly elected MPs on June 24 and 25.
However, opposition members K. Suresh, T.R. Baalu, and Sudip Bandyopadhyay, appointed as panel chairpersons, did not attend. The Congress has raised objections over Mahtab’s appointment, highlighting the exclusion of eight-term member K. Suresh, a Dalit leader.
