69 MLAs take oath as members of Delhi Assembly

Sixty-nine newly elected MLAs, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia, took oath as members of the Delhi Assembly as its three-day session began on Monday.

Janakpuri MLA Rajesh Rishi could not take oath on Monday because he was not in town and he will now take oath as the member of newly-constituted Delhi Assembly on Tuesday.

This is the first assembly session after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) formed the government for third time in the national capital.

The oath-taking process started with Kejriwal, followed by Sisodia, Environment Minister Gopal Rai, Health Minister Satyendar Jain, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot and other legislators.

On the first day of the Seventh Delhi Legislative Assembly, sixty-one members took oath in Hindi, three in Urdu, two members in Maithili, and one member each in English and Punjabi.

AAP MLAs Saurabh Bharadwaj and Naresh Balyan took oath in the name of Lord Hanuman and several MLAs chanted 'Jai Hanuman', thumping their desks.

According to the Greater Kailash MLA, BJP MLA Anil Kumar Bajpai raised objection when he was taking oath in the name of Lord Hanuman.

Legislators such Sanjeev Jha and Ritu Raj Govind, who came dressed in traditional attire, took oath in Maithili language.

Matia Mahal MLA Shoaib Iqbal, who was appointed pro-tem speaker, oversaw the oath-taking ceremony in the House. A few hours before the start of first session on Monday, Iqbal took oath at the LG office.

Later, Shahdara MLA Ram Niwas Goel was unanimously elected as the speaker of assembly for the second consecutive term.

While Tilak Nagar MLA Jarnail Singh took oath in Punjabi, another AAP MLA Rajesh Gupta took oath in the name of his mother and father. MLAs Rohit Mehroliya took oath in the name of Maharishi Valmiki.

Raghav Chadha, Atishi Marlena and Dilip Pandey were among first time MLAs who took oath as the members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly.

BJP's Badarpur MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, who was elected as Leader of Opposition earlier on Monday, hugged Iqbal after taking oath. Bidhuri and Iqbal were first elected to Delhi Assembly in 1993.

The seventh Delhi Legislative Assembly was constituted after the Aam Aadmi Party won 62 seats in the 70-member House. The BJP won eight seats, while the Congress drew a blank.