Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh took oath as a member of the Rajya Sabha from Punjab on the first day of the Monsoon session of Parliament on Monday. The 42-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was among nearly 25 other leaders who took oath as Rajya Sabha members.
“Took Oath as Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) to protect the Constitution, Rule of Law and Dignity of the House . I will do my best for the people of Punjab and Nation .. Jai Hind Jai Bharat,” Harbhajan tweeted sharing a video of him taking the oath.
Misa Bharti, daughter of former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla, A Rao Meena, Vijay Sai Reddy, Kheeru Mahto, Shambhala Saran Patel, Ranjeet Ranjan, Maharashtra Majhi, Aditya Prasad, Praful Patel, Imran Pratapgarhi, Sanjay Raut, Sasmit Patra, Sandeep Kumar Pathak and Vikramjeet Singh Sahani also took oath as Rajya Sabha members.
{{/usCountry}}Misa Bharti, daughter of former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla, A Rao Meena, Vijay Sai Reddy, Kheeru Mahto, Shambhala Saran Patel, Ranjeet Ranjan, Maharashtra Majhi, Aditya Prasad, Praful Patel, Imran Pratapgarhi, Sanjay Raut, Sasmit Patra, Sandeep Kumar Pathak and Vikramjeet Singh Sahani also took oath as Rajya Sabha members.
{{/usCountry}}Randeep Singh Surjewal, P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, R Girl Rajan, S Kalyan Sundaram, KRN Rajesh Kumar, Javed Ali Khan, V Vijendra Prasad were others among those who took the oath.
Renowned former athlete PT Usha (from Kerala) and legendary music composer Ilaiyaraaja (from Tamil Nadu) could not be present in the Rajya Sabha to take the oath due to some reasons.
Newly elected members from different political parties took oath on the first day of the Monsoon session of Parliament.
Later, obituary references were read in respect of several dignitaries who passed away recently.
The Rajya Sabha also paid homage to former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, ex-UAE president Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and former Kenayan president Mwai Kibaki.
Obituaries were also paid to former members Kishore Kumar Mohanty, Robert Kharshiing, K K Veerappan and santoor player Pandit Shivkumar Sharma.
Later, Rajya Sabha secretary general PC Mody also laid on the table a statement (in English and Hindi) showing the Bills passed by the Houses of Parliament during the 256th Session of the Rajya Sabha and assented to by the President.
(With inputs from ANI)