NEW DELHI: After a gap of nearly a decade, Congress MP Vincent H Pala and his Tura counterpart from NPP, Agatha K Sangma, on Monday took oath as members of the 17th Lok Sabha. While Pala took the oath in English, Agatha did the same in Hindi. Pala was accompanied by a host of Congress leaders including MPCC president Celestine Lyngdoh, Rajya Sabha MP Wansuk Syiem, legislator Shangpliang. Pala’s daughters – Ajaria and Fiola – were also present on the occasion.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma visited the Parliament House but could not attend the swearing in ceremony as it was very late. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first among MPs to take oath on Monday.
Senior BJP MP Virendra Kumar took oath as the Pro-tem Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha at Rashtrapati Bhawan and later administered the oath to all MPs through a panel of Chairpersons. There was some flutter when BJP MPs Sunny Deol, Tejasvi Surya and Ravi Kishan arrived in Parliament to take oath. But the House witnessed protests when the controversial BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya took oath. Union ministers and BJP MPs – Harsh Vardhan and Jitendra Singh – took oath in Sanskrit and Dogri, respectively. This is the third time both Pala and Agatha have taken oath as members of the Lok Sabha. Both are former junior ministers, having been given the responsibilities under the then Congressled UPA-II government.
