Amit Shah, Smriti Irani take oath as Rajya Sabha MPs

NEW DELHI: BJP chief Amit Shah and I&B minister Smriti Irani took oath as members of the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat in vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu’s office in Parliament House on Friday.

Shah took oath in the presence of Naidu, RS deputy chairperson PJ Kurien, finance minister Arun Jaitley, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar and food and civil supplies minister Ram Vilas Paswan. Shah’s wife Sonalben was present on the occasion. Irani took oath in Sanskrit. Her husband Zubin Irani attend the oath -taking ceremony.

With Shah entering the RS, Parliament is likely to see a more aggressive BJP under his leadership.

BJP lawmakers are also expected to improve their performance—starting with their attendance in the House—to impress their party president.

BJP and Congress both have 57 members each in the 245 member RS. Though the Opposition parties outnumber NDA in the House, the margin has narrowed. NDA will get a boost in April 2018 when the next round of polls for vacant seats takes place.

Congress leader Ahmed Patel will take oath on August 28. TMC leaders will take oath on August 29.