First session of 18th Lok Sabha to begin today; PM Modi, newly elected members to take oath

The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha will begin on Monday which will witness the oathtaking ceremony of newlyelected Members of Parliament including Prime Minister Narendra Modi reported news agency ANIThe first session is expected to be stormy as the opposition is likely to corner the BJPled NDA government on the election of the Speaker on June 26 discussions regarding allegations of paper leaks in NEETUG and UGCNET and row over the appointment of the protem SpeakerPresident Droupadi Murmu will administer the oath to Bharatiya Janata Party BJP lawmaker Bhartruhari Mahtab as the protem Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha Mahtab will then call upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi the Leader of the Lok Sabha to take oath as member of the House reported ANIOn June 26 the Lok Sabha Speaker will be elected On June 27 President Droupadi Murmu is scheduled to address the joint sitting of both houses of ParliamentThis is the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha post the general elections which saw the National Democratic Alliance NDA securing 293 seats and the INDIA bloc wining 234 with the Congress holding 99 of themMeanwhile the newly elected Congress MPs meeting is called at 10 am at the CPP office in Parliament todayAfter the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance examination National EligibilitycumEntrance TestUndergraduate 2024 NEETUG Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra targeted the BJP and said that they stand with the studentsThe row over the appointment of BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab as the protem Speaker is expected to shadow the proceedings as opposition claimed that Congress Member K Suresh who is the senior most member was disregarded by the governmentMeanwhile BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab who has been appointed as the protem Speaker will administer the oath to newly elected members and oversee the proceedings of the HouseThe Congress has reacted sharply to the central governments decision to appoint seventerm BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab as Protem Speaker of Lok Sabha over seniormost Dalit MP Kodikkunnil Suresh of Congress saying that the appointment by the BJP deviates from the traditional practice of appointing the senior memberCongress leader K Suresh said that there is an eighthterm MP in the House but a seventhterm MP has been appointed as protem Speaker reported ANIWe are claiming that an eighthterm MP should be the protem SpeakerThey have done wrong and now the whole country is criticising the decision of the BJP government K Suresh told ANICongress MP Hibi Eden said that NDA government have violated all the traditions and customs reported ANIThere are certain customs related to the Parliament of India and it is always the seniormost member irrespective of the party who is given the opportunity to become the protem speaker It is merely a matter of two days but it is the respect given to the member whichever party heshe is from Unfortunately a Dalit member who is an 8time MP from Kerala has been denied the right to become the protem speaker This shows the attitude of the NDA government towards the Dalit and the oppressed community of this country They have violated all the traditions and customs Even though this session is hardly for 8 days it should have been in consensus with the opposition because we are representing almost 45 per cent of the country he told ANIPresident Murmu also appointed Suresh Kodikunnil Thalikkottai Rajuthevar Baalu Radha Mohan Singh Faggan Singh Kulaste and Sudip Bandyopadhyay to assist the Speaker Protem in oath taking of the newlyelected members reported ANIThe first session of the 18th Lok Sabha will be held from June 24 and conclude on July 3 for oathaffirmation of newly elected Members The 264th Session of Rajya Sabha will also commence on June 27 and conclude on July 3Moreover the Samajwadi Party Parliamentary meeting is to be held on Monday in Delhi The meeting will be chaired by party National President Akhilesh YadavThe last session of the 17th Lok Sabha Budget session was held between January 31 and February 10 2024With inputs from ANI