25 members take oath in Rajya Sabha

NEW DELHI: India's unity in diversity was today reflected in Rajya Sabha as 25 newly-elected members took oath in various languages spoken in the states they represent in the Upper House.

Though a large chunk chose Hindi to swear in the name of God, a good number of new members opted their mother tongue, including Bengali, Gujarati and Tamil.

As soon as the House assembled, Chairman Hamid Ansari called upon the members in alphabetical order of the states they represent.

One member each from Assam, Haryana, West Bengal and Maharashtra, two each from Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and three from Bihar took oath in Hindi.

Andhra Pradesh member T Subbarami Reddy swore in the name of God in English. Two Gujarati members -- Chunibhai Kanjibhai Gohel and Shambhuprasad Baldevdasji Tundiya took oath in Gujarati and Husain Dalwai in Marathi.

Two members from Tamil Nadu, T K Rangarajan and Tiruchi Siva took oath in Tamil, while Ritabrata Banerjee from West Bengal took oath in Bengali as also Jogendranath Chowdhury and Ahamed Hassan.

Actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty took oath in Hindi.

Ansari congratulated all new members and extended them a "very cordial welcome" with the hope that they would soon get acquainted with the rules and regulations of the House.

He also introduced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the House amid thumping of desks