From Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and former Member of the National Women Commission, Wansuk Syiem, created history on Monday when she took oath as the first woman from Meghalaya to be unanimously elected as member of the Rajya Sabha.
Syiem took oath as a member of the Upper House with Vice President Hamid Ansari in the chair. She took the oath in English, bowed before the Chair and occupied her allotted seat.
Though the by-election to the Rajya Sabha seat was scheduled on April 19, Syiem was declared elected unopposed to the Upper House on April 11.
The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of former member Thomas A Sangma of the NCP who unsuccessfully contested the February 23 Assembly polls from North Tura seat on an NPP ticket.
Wansuk, 55, has been member of the Congress for over three decades and has held various positions in the MPCC and AICC. She was a two-time member of the National Commission for Women.
After taking oath Syiem was congratulated by Lok Sabha MP from Shillong, Vincent H Pala.
“I shall give my whole life for Meghalaya and I shall continue to do the same for the rest of my life and during my tenure as an MP,” Syiem told The Shillong Times after taking oath.
