NEW DELHI, Apr 4:
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw were among the 14 who took oath as members of the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar administered the oath to them in the new Parliament house building.
While Sonia Gandhi took oath as a member of the Upper House from Rajasthan, Vaishnaw was sworn in as a member of the same House from Odisha.
Congress leaders Ajay Maken and Syed Naseer Hussain from Karnataka, BJP leader R P N Singh from Uttar Pradesh, and BJP member Samik Bhattacharya from West Bengal were among the 14 who took the Rajya Sabha oath.
Sanjay Kumar Jha of JD(U) also took oath as a member from Bihar, Subhashish Khuntia and Debashish Samantaray, both of BJD took oath as members from Odisha, while Madan Rathore of BJP took oath as RS member representing Rajasthan.
YSRCP leaders Golla Baburao, Meda Raghunadha Reddy, and Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy, and BRS leader Ravi Chandra Vaddiraju from Telangana also took oath as members representing the State of Andhra Pradesh.
They all later took a group photograph with the RS Chairman.
The Rajya Sabha Secretariat said that the terms of the members from Odisha and Rajasthan started from Thursday. All others started their term from Wednesday.
Sonia Gandhi has become a Rajya Sabha member for the first time. She took oath in the presence of Leader of the House Piyush Goyal and Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
Her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was also present during her oath-taking.
Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh and Secretary General P C Mody were also present.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders will release the party’s manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections tomorrow with its focus on the five ‘pillars of justice’.
The manifesto would be released by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and former party presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
A day after the launch of the manifesto, Kharge and the Gandhis will address public rallies in Jaipur and Hyderabad where they will also highlight the key elements of the manifesto.
In its manifesto, the Congress will lay emphasis on ‘Paanch Nyay’ or five pillars of justice, including ‘Yuva Nyay’, ‘Naari Nyay’, ‘Kisaan Nyay’, ‘Shramik Nyay’ and ‘Hissedari Nyay’ as well as the guarantees made by it to the people as part of its poll promises for 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
For the first time, the Congress will also promise the youths the ‘right to employment’ as part of its poll manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and is mulling to propose stringent punishment for those responsible for paper leaks in examinations.
The focus on youths comes as part of Congress’ bid to woo them ahead of the elections.
In the manifesto, the party will also propose a stringent law and punishment against those responsible for paper leaks in the country and will suggest measures to bring transparency in government recruitment, sources said.
The party manifesto would also focus on a legal guarantee to a minimum support price and caste-based census in the country. It is also likely to give thrust on welfare measures like providing financial assistance to marginalised sections of the society and ensuring that they get justice and be part of the state welfare measures. (PTI)
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