New Delhi: Swati Maliwal, former chief of the Delhi Commission For Women (DCW), took oath as Rajya Sabha MP on Wednesday. But Maliwal, who is known for her blatant statements on issues concerning safety of women, had to take the oath of office twice.
According to ANI sources, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asked AAP leader Swati Maliwal to take oath twice because of two reasons. First, she took the wrong oath initially as she read the version of the oath meant for nominated Rajya Sabha members. The second reason was unwarranted sloganeering.
Notably, Maliwal, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member, was elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed. Speaking to news agency ANI on Wednesday, Maliwal said, "Today is a big day for me. I took an oath that my life will be dedicated to the country. I am an activist and I will always be an activist."
Earlier, the former DCW chief had said that her family was scared about her foray into politics, however she asserted that she was not scared to question the government, as per PTI.
On her expectations from this year’s budget, Maliwal said she hoped that it would have something for women, farmers, labourers. "Even though women comprise 50 per cent of the population, the “gender budget” is five per cent of the budget. Why these oft-repeated Beti Bachao Beti Padhao slogans?”, PTI quoted Maliwal as saying.
Maliwal also vowed to serve people and promised to do it with utmost honesty. "I am not scared. At the most, they will put me in jail. I am not scared of dying or threats. I will continue fighting till I die", PTI quoted Maliwal as saying.