New Delhi [India], April 6 : Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Chandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday took oath as Rajya Sabha member along with other MPs elected to the House from West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.
A total of 19 leaders, including Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, DMK's Tiruchi Siva, BJP's Ramrao Wadkute, Manmohan Samal, BJD's Santrupt Mishra, BJD-Congress backed Dilip Kumar Ray, DMK's Constandine Ravindran, DMDL's LK Sudhish and Congress' Christopher Manickam, took oath today.
This marks the return of Sharad Pawar, Ramdas Athawale and several other leaders who were re-elected after their tenure ended. After a long stint in the Lok Sabha, the NCP(SCP) patriarch was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2014.
Vice President of India and Rajya Sabha chairman CP Radhakrishnan administered the oath to the newly elected members.
The polling for the biennial elections to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to fill the 37 seats across 10 states took place on March 16, with the counting of votes on the same day at 5 pm.
The term of 37 members who were elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will conclude in the month of April, vacating the seats for new members to be elected.
Meanwhile, the incumbent Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar is set to formally take the oath as a Rajya Sabha MP on April 10, confirmed Bihar BJP leader Sanjay Saraogi on Sunday.
The Rajya Sabha polls last month witnessed high-voltage political drama. Nitish Kumar's exit from state politics was initially met with protests by JD(U) workers, while the Opposition party Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) slammed the BJP.
Amid cross-voting in Odisha BJD suspended six MLAs, while in Haryana Congress alleged irregularities, including cross-voting, as counting of votes witnessed a halt in the state.
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