Sanskrit, Hindi, Dogri, Odia: Linguistic diversity on display in Lok Sabha as new members take oath

As Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan proceeded to take his oath, members of the opposition raised 'NEET, NEET' slogans, amid a controversy over alleged irregularities in competitive exams, including the medical entrance exam National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG).

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha witnessed a display of linguistic diversity on Monday, with the newly-elected MPs taking their oaths in English and Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Dogri, Bengali, Assamese and Odia.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took his oath in Hindi amid slogans of "Jai Shri Ram" from the treasury benches.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi, Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Urban Development Minister ML Khattar were among those who took oath in Hindi.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the MP from Odisha's Sambalpur, took oath in Odia.

As Pradhan proceeded to take his oath, members of the opposition raised "NEET, NEET" slogans, amid a controversy over alleged irregularities in competitive exams, including the medical entrance exam National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG).

Suresh Gopi, the first BJP MP to be elected from Kerala, also took oath as a member of the 18th Lok Sabha.

Before taking his oath in Malayalam, the actor-politician invoked the gods, saying "Krishna, Guruvayurappa". Gopi is the Minister of State (MoS) for Tourism and Petroleum. He represents Kerala's Thrissur constituency.

Shripad Yesso Naik, the MoS for Power and Renewable Energy, took his oath in Sanskrit. Naik won a sixth term from the North Goa constituency.

MoS for Education and Development of North Eastern Region Sukanta Majumdar took his oath in Bengali.

Pune MP Muralidhar Mohol, the MoS for Aviation, took his oath in Marathi.

Union Minister Jitender Singh, the MP from Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur, took his oath in Dogri.

Union Minister of Port and Shipping Sarbananda Sonowal and Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu took their oaths in Assamese and Telugu, respectively.

Sonowal is the MP from Assam's Dibrugarh while Naidu is a three-time MP from Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam constituency. He is also the youngest minister in the third Modi government.

Steel and Heavy Industries Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi took their oaths in Kannada while Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy took his oath in Telugu.

Earlier in the day, Bhartruhari Mahtab took oath as a member of the new Lower House as well pro-tem speaker at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Before the proceedings started, all members stood in silence for a few seconds to mark the solemn occasion of the first sitting of the new House.