Congress leader Rajni Patil, 4 others take oath as Rajya Sabha members

Congress leader Rajni Ashokrao Patil and four other newly-elected MPs to Rajya Sabha took oath as a member of the Upper House of Parliament

Congress leader Rajni Ashokrao Patil and four other newly-elected MPs to Rajya Sabha on Monday took oath as a member of the Upper House of Parliament.

On the opening day of the Winter Session of Parliament, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu called for newly-elected members to take an oath.

Patil, 63, was the first to take the oath. She took oath in Marathi.

She was elected to the Upper House from Maharashtra on a vacancy created by the death of her brother and sitting Congress MP Rajiv Satav in May due to post-Covid complications.

Following the long-established tradition in Maharashtra of seats going uncontested if a sitting MP dies, the BJP withdrew its candidate Sanjay Upadhyay to enable Patil to be elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)'s newly-elected members from Tamil Nadu - Kanimozhi NVN Somu, KRN Rajesh Kumar, and MM Abdullah -- also took the oath.

While Kanimozhi NVN Somu is the daughter of former union minister NVN Somu and a renowned obstetrician, gynaecologist, and laparoscopic surgeon, KRN Rajesh Kumar is a part of the DMK youth wing.

With the three new MPs, the DMK now has 10 MPs in Rajya Sabha.

Trinamool Congress's Luizinho Faleiro, who was elected to the Upper House from West Bengal, also took the oath.

Earlier when the House met, Naidu introduced PC Mody, the new secretary-general of the Rajya Sabha. Mody is former chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).