Religious and nationalist slogans were echoed for the first time in the House when newly-elected MPs took their oaths on Monday and Tuesday in the Lok Sabha. However, the Chair asked the members several times that they should not raise slogans, but they ignored as he was not there.
Many newly-elected members on Tuesday raised slogans after concluding their oath in Lok Sabha, with some even engaging in heated exchanges, ignoring the Chair’s direction to refrain from it.
BJP MPs Chanted ‘Jai Sri Ram’
Many BJP MPs took their oath and ended it with chants of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’, and Vande Mataram. In the meantime, Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal Shafiqur Rahman Barq objected to Vande Mataram slogan, drawing protests from members of treasury benches who demanded an apology from him.
#WATCH: Slogans of 'Mandir vahin banayenge' were raised in the Lok Sabha as BJP's winning candidate from Unnao, Sakshi Maharaj took oath as a Member of Parliament, in Sanskrit, earlier today. pic.twitter.com/Cr6IQNbXJF
— ANI (@ANI) June 18, 2019
‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ slogans were also raised while Congress leader and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi took oath in Hindi.
#WATCH: Congress MP from UP's Rae Bareli, Sonia Gandhi takes oath as Member of Parliament, amidst desk-thumping applauds by the Opposition. pic.twitter.com/mgCBkoBR5v
— ANI (@ANI) June 18, 2019
With all this happening, Congress President Rahul Gandhi taking a dig, asked BJP Arun Kumar Sagar, who chanted ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ twice, to raise the slogan “one more time”. Gandhi again repeated, “one more time” after the next BJP MP Ajay Kumar also raised the slogan of “Bharat Mata ki Jai”.
Mr. Kumar then provoked that he will say the slogan again and again if Mr. Gandhi can complete it by chanting ‘Jai’. In a quick response, Gandhi said “Jai Hind” and was supported by other Congress members.
Asaduddin Owais with ‘Allahu Akbar’
As it all happening, Asaduddin Owaisi was taking the oath, members from the ruling side shouted slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’. In response to it the AIMIM MP from Hyderabad, chanted “Jai Bheem, Jai Meem, Takbeer Allahu Akbar, Jai Hind.”
When asked about the sloganeering in the Lok Sabha, Owaisi said it was “good that they remember such things” when they see him. “I hope they also remember the Constitution and deaths of children in Muzaffarpur,” he said in his own jibe at the MPs.
#WATCH: Slogans of Bharat Mata ki Jai and Vande Mataram raised in the Lok Sabha as AIMIM MP from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi comes to take his oath. He concluded his oath with "Jai Bhim! Takbir! Allahu Akbar! Jai Hind!" pic.twitter.com/TGt7bRfDfC
— ANI (@ANI) June 18, 2019
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to take the oath, along with several prominent members such as Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Textiles Minister Smriti Irani, and Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. The second batch of Lok Sabha MPs took oath on Tuesday, on Day 2 of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
