Rajasthan MLAs take oath on first day of two-day session
Rajasthan MLAs take oath on first day of two-day session
Jaipur, Dec 20 (PTI) The newly-elected members of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly on Wednesday took oath on the first day of a two-day session.
The first session of the 16th assembly began at 11 am with the oath ceremony for 190 of the 199 members.
Congress legislators came to the House wearing black ribbons to protest against the suspension of 143 opposition MPs from Parliament.
Elections on 199 of 200 seats in Rajasthan were held last month. The election for the Karanpur seat was adjourned following the death of the Congress candidate. It has been rescheduled to January 5.
Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma was the first to take oath, followed by Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa — his two deputies.
While most of the members took oath in Hindi, some — including the Congress’ Zuber Khan and Independent MLA Yoonus Khan — took their oaths in Sanskrit.
A few legislators also expressed their desire to take their oaths in Rajasthani but were refused by Protem Speaker Kalicharan Saraf on the grounds that it was not included in Schedule Eight of the Constitution.
The MLAs absent will be administered their oaths on Thursday.
Election for the post of speaker will also be held on Thursday. The BJP has named Vasudev Devnani for the post.
Soon after the proceedings began, Congress MLA Shanti Dhariwal raised objection over calling the session on short notice.
Congress MLA Govind Singh Dotasra, who is also the party’s state unit chief, tried to raise the issue of the suspension of opposition MPs from Parliament but was refused by the protem speaker.
MLAs of the Bharat Adivasi Party arrived in the House in traditional tribal attire while Independent lawmaker Ritu Banawat reached the assembly in a tractor. BJP MLA Jethanand Vyas came on a motorcycle.
Also on Wednesday, Devnani presented five sets nomination papers for the post of speaker.
Former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot seconded Chief Minister Sharma’s proposal in the first set of papers, presented before Assembly Principal Secretary Mahavir Prasad Sharma.
In the second set, the proposal of former chief minister Ashok Gehlot was seconded by Dotasara.
In the third set, the proposal of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje was seconded by Bharat Adivasi Party MLA Rajkumar Roat.
In the fourth set, the proposal of Diya Kumari was seconded by Independent MLA Chandrabhan Singh.
In the fifth set, the proposal of Rashtriya Loktantrik Party MLA Hanuman Beniwal was seconded by Rashtriya Lok Dal MLA Dr Subhash Garg.
The BJP has 115 MLAs in the 200-member House, the Congress 69, Bharat Adivasi Party three, Bahujan Samaj Party two, and the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party one each. Eight Independent members were also elected while one seat remains vacant.