Sonia Gandhi and Ashwini Vaishnaw Among 14 Sworn-In as Rajya Sabha Members

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 5th April. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw were among the 14 dignitaries who took the oath as members of the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, marking the commencement of their tenure in the Upper House of Parliament.

The oath-taking ceremony, presided over by Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, took place in the newly inaugurated Parliament house building.

Sonia Gandhi assumed her role as a member of the Upper House from Rajasthan, while Ashwini Vaishnaw was sworn in as a member representing Odisha. Other prominent figures who took the oath include Congress leaders Ajay Maken and Syed Naseer Hussain from Karnataka, RPN Singh from Uttar Pradesh, Samik Bhattacharya from West Bengal, and Sanjay Kumar Jha of JD(U) from Bihar.

Additionally, Subhashish Khuntia and Debashish Samantaray, both from BJD, took the oath as members from Odisha, while Madan Rathore of BJP represented Rajasthan in the Rajya Sabha.

Leaders from YSRCP, including Golla Baburao, Meda Raghunadha Reddy, and Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy, along with Ravi Chandra Vaddiraju from BRS in Telangana, also took the oath as members representing Andhra Pradesh.

Following the oath-taking, all members gathered for a group photograph with the Rajya Sabha Chairman.

According to the Rajya Sabha secretariat, the terms of the members from Odisha and Rajasthan officially commenced on Thursday, while the terms of all other members began on Wednesday.

Notably, Sonia Gandhi embarked on her first tenure as a Rajya Sabha member, with her oath ceremony witnessing the presence of distinguished figures such as Leader of the House Piyush Goyal and Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. Additionally, her daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, attended the ceremony along with Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh and Secretary-General PC Mody.