India’s unity in diversity was on display on the first day of the five-day opening session of the 17th Bihar Vidhan Sabha, when elected members from different regions who cross party lines took the oath in different languages.
However, Shakeel Ahmad Khan, MLA of the Kasba Congress, surprised everyone by taking the oath in Sanskrit, while others brought in the regional flavors by taking the oaths in Maithili, Urdu, Hindi in addition to English and Sankrit.
Later, Khan, a student at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said that he took the oath in Sanskrit to do something different to underline the unity in diversity that India represents.
“I tried to give a message to both the BJP and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). Our culture is so beautiful and Sanskrit is the mother of all languages. I felt that I should take the oath in Sanskrit and I did, ”he said.
Akhtarul Imam, AIMIM’s Bihar MLA led by Asaduddin Owaisi, referred to the word ‘Hindustan’, instead of ‘Bharat’, while reading the Urdu translation of the oath. Imam is the head of AIMIM’s Bihar unit and was often described as the face of the party in Bihar after joining the party after leaving the RJD.
AIMIM had won its first assembly seat in Bihar in the Kishanganj general election in 2019 when its candidate Qamrul Hoda defeated Sweety Singh of BJP. While Hooda gave the Hyderabad-based party its first success, Imam is credited with deepening his roots in the Seemanchal area.
Pro-tem spokesman Jitan Ram Manjhi immediately said that it should be ‘Bharat’ as has been the practice, as well as the provision in the Constitution. Imam immediately made amends and read the oath. Later he said that it was necessary to change the word in the old Urdu translation.
“I have no problem even if it is Hindustan, but the Constitution clearly says Bharat,” he added.
The first person to be sworn in was Dhirendra Pratap Singh aka Rinku singh, MLA from Valmiki Nagar constituency, according to the list of elected members notified by the electoral commission.
There was an apparent regional flavor in the way many of the members dressed and took the oath.
If those from Mithilanchal, crossing party lines, took the oath in Maithili, there were others from Seemanchal who did so in Urdu. There were others like Ratnesh Sada of Sonbarsa and Mithilesh Kumar of Sitamarhi, who took an oath in Sanskrit. The XVII VIdhan Sabha has more than 100 new members and the emotion on their faces was clearly visible.
The opening session of the 17th Vidhan Sabha will continue until November 27. The remaining members will be sworn in on Tuesday. The 243 newly elected members of the Bihar Assembly will be sworn in by the pro-tem president in the central hall, where the seating arrangement has been made with the appropriate distance in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Spokesperson election will be held on November 25, while on November 26, Governor Phagu CHouhan will address the joint session of the state legislature.
In the new Assembly, RJD is the largest party with 75 members, while the Grand Alliance has 110 seats. The NDA, the largest coalition, has 125 seats, including 74 members of the BJP. An independent candidate has also given him his support.
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