Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday took oath as the Member of Parliament as the 18th Lok Sabha session began following the recently concluded polls to the Lower House of the Parliament. After Modi, the Council of Ministers will be administered the oath by pro tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab followed by the newly elected MP in the alphabetical order of the state starting from Assam.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance made a comeback for a third term after winning 293 seats although the saffron party was limited at 240 seats and was left reliant on its allies, Telugu Desam Party and Janata Dal (United).
The Opposition, however, came back stronger with Congress bagging 99 seats while the Samajwadi Party swept Uttar Pradesh which sends the highest number of MPs to Lok Sabha.
The session commenced with President Droupadi Murmu administering the oath to BJP leader and seven-term member Bhartruhari Mahtab as the pro-tem Speaker of the Lok Sabha at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
PM Modi returned for a third term after scoring a hat-trick from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat and took the oath first on Monday as the leader of the House.
After Modi, senior members Radha Mohan Singh and Faggan Singh Kulaste (both from the BJP), who will assist the pro-tem Speaker in administering the oath to the newly elected MPs were sworn in as the member of the new House.
Both the MPs will help the pro-tem Speaker B Mahtab run the House as the members take oath in Monday and Tuesday.
Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, and Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari also took oath as members of the 18th Lok Sabha.