State Bureau, Ranchi: On the first day of the four-day session of the Jharkhand Assembly, legislators were sworn in on Monday. Protem Speaker Stephen Marandi administered the oath to the 80 elected members of the assembly. Chief Minister Hemant Soren was the first to take the oath as the elected representative from the Barhait constituency, followed by other ministers.
With the oath-taking ceremony of all 80 elected MLAs completed, the assembly proceedings were adjourned until 11 a.m. on Tuesday. Rabindranath Mahato is set to be elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Assembly on Tuesday, marking his second consecutive term. On Monday, Mahato filed seven nomination sets for the Speaker’s post. Apart from the ruling coalition, legislators from BJP, AJSU, JD(U), and LJP either proposed or supported his nomination.
After the Chief Minister, ministers such as Radhakrishna Kishore, Deepak Biruwa, Chamra Linda, Sanjay Prasad Yadav, Ramdas Soren, Irfan Ansari, Hafizul Hassan, Deepika Pandey Singh, Yogendra Prasad, Sudivya Kumar Sonu, and Shilpi Neha Tirkey took their oaths. Irfan Ansari took the oath in Bengali, Hafizul Hassan in Urdu, Deepika Pandey Singh in Angika, Sudivya Sonu in Khortha, Ramdas Soren in Santali, and the rest in Hindi. Other MLAs took their oaths in order of their assembly constituency numbers.
The first MLA to take the oath was Mohammad Tajuddin from Rajmahal, while the last was Anant Pratap Deo from Bhawnathpur. While most MLAs took the oath in Hindi, many chose regional and tribal languages like Santali, Khortha, Kurmali, and Ho. Congress MLAs, including Shilpi Neha Tirkey, took their oaths holding the Constitution.
Before the oath-taking, the Secretary of the Assembly Secretariat read messages from the Governor authorizing the Protem Speaker to administer the oaths. This was followed by an address from the Protem Speaker.
Kalpana Soren Seeks Blessings
Kalpana Soren, the elected MLA from Gandey, sought blessings by touching the feet of her husband, Chief Minister Hemant Soren, and several senior legislators after taking her oath. Kalpana arrived at the assembly wearing a sari and a green coat.
Excitement Among First-Time MLAs
First-time MLAs displayed enthusiasm upon entering the assembly. Some, like Jairam Mahato, bowed their heads and offered prayers at the main gate. MLAs like Purnima Das from Jamshedpur East, Manju Kumari from Jamua, and Devendra Kunwar from Jarmundi also paid their respects at the main entrance.
Proposers and Supporters for Speaker Nominations:
- Set 1: Proposer – Chief Minister Hemant Soren; Supporter – Mathura Mahato
- Set 2: Proposer – Minister Radhakrishna Kishore; Supporter – Rameshwar Oraon
- Set 3: Proposer – Suresh Paswan; Supporter – Naresh Pratap Singh
- Set 4: Proposer – Arup Chatterjee; Supporter – Chandra Dev Mahato
- Set 5: Proposer – Babulal Marandi; Supporter – CP Singh
- Set 6: Proposer – Saryu Roy; Supporter – Janardan Paswan
- Set 7: Proposer – Jairam Mahato; Supporter – Nirmal Mahato
