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Vice President of India and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday administered oaths to 14 newly elected members of the esteemed Upper House of Parliament, comprising Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.
Sonia Gandhi took the oath as Rajya Sabha MP for the first time from Rajasthan, filling the seat that will fall vacant after former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh completed his tenure on April 3. This came a few days before the ensuing Lok Sabha elections that are scheduled to take place in seven phases, starting from April 19. She took oath in the presence of Leader of the House Piyush Goyal and Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge. Her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, and secretary general P C Mody were also present. Sonia Gandhi had earlier been a member of the Lok Sabha having represented Rae Bareli in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019. This time around she chose to be elected from the upper house due to her health. In the halls of the Parliament House, the momentous occasion unfolded with Dhankhar presiding over the solemn ceremony of administering the oath to these newly elected Rajya Sabha members. Amidst an atmosphere charged with anticipation and dignity, a distinguished roster of individuals stepped forward to pledge their commitment to serve the nation with integrity and dedication. Among those who were administered the oath were Golla Baburao, Meda Raghunadha Reddy, Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy, Sanjay Kumar Jha, Syed Naseer Hussain and Ajay Makan. Amidst the array of new faces, seasoned politicians such as Madan Rathore, Ravi Chandra Vaddiraju, and Kunwar Ratanjeet Pratap Narayan Singh imparted a sense of continuity and experience to the proceedings. Notable among them was Ashwini Vaishnaw, who currently holds the Railways and the IT Portfolio in the government. Vaishnaw was elected to the upper house from Odisha with the support of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). Completing the list of newly elected members were Subhashish Khuntia, Debashish Samantaray, and Samik Bhattacharya, each representing the diversity and dynamism of the Indian polity. The BJP lead NDA has 121 members in the upper house, while the INDIA bloc parties have 91 members. (ANI)
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