As Suresh Gopi, the first Bharatiya Janata Party MP elected from Kerala, prepared to take his oath as a member of the 18th Lok Sabha, he invoked “Krishna, Guruvayurappa.” Elected from Thrissur, Gopi then took his oath in Malayalam and was appointed as the Minister of State (MoS) for Tourism and Petroleum.
PM Modi and Other Ministers Take Oath Amidst Linguistic Diversity
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took his oath in Hindi amid chants of “Jai Shri Ram” from the treasury benches. Other key ministers, including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Annapurna Devi, Jyotiraditya Scindia, and ML Khattar, also took their oaths in Hindi.
This year’s swearing-in ceremony showcased India’s linguistic diversity, with newly-elected MPs taking their oaths in various languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. These languages included Sanskrit, Hindi, Dogri, Assamese, Odia, and others.
Diverse Linguistic Oaths by Ministers
– Dharmendra Pradhan, education minister and MP from Sambalpur, took his oath in Odia amid opposition slogans of “NEET, NEET” due to recent controversies surrounding the national medical entrance exam.
– Shripad Yesso Naik, MoS for power and renewable energy, took his oath in Sanskrit. He was elected for the sixth time from North Goa.
– Sukanta Majumdar, MoS for education and development of the North Eastern region, took his oath in Bengali.
– Muralidhar Mohol, MP from Pune and MoS for Aviation, took his oath in Marathi.
– Jitender Singh, Union Minister elected from Udhampur in J&K, took his oath in Dogri.
–Rammohan Naidu, aviation minister, and G Kishan Reddy, coal and mines minister, took their oaths in Telugu.
– Sarbananda Sonowal, union minister of port and shipping, took his oath in Assamese.
– HD Kumaraswamy, steel and heavy industries minister, and Pralhad Joshi, consumer affairs minister, took their oaths in Kannada.
However, BJP MP from Saran in Bihar, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, expressed regret that he could not take his oath in Bhojpuri.
This year’s ceremony highlighted the linguistic richness of India, reflecting the country’s diverse cultural heritage.