First Session of 18th Lok Sabha To Begin Today; PM Modi, Newly Elected MPs to Take Oath

New Delhi: The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha is set to begin on Monday, with the oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected Members of Parliament, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This will be followed by the election of the Lok Sabha Speaker on June 26. President Droupadi Murmu will then address a joint session of both Houses on June 27.

This will be the first Lok Sabha session following the general elections held from April to June. In the 18th Lok Sabha, the NDA has a majority with 293 seats, while the BJP holds 240 seats, just short of the 272 needed for a majority on its own. The Opposition INDIA bloc has 234 seats, with the Congress accounting for 99 of those seats.

The row over appointment of BJP leader and seven-term member Bhartruhari Mahtab as the pro-tem speaker is likely to cast shadow over the session. The move has drawn flak from the opposition, which alleged that the claim of Congress member K Suresh to the post was overlooked by the government.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju asserted that Mahtab has had seven uninterrupted terms as Lok Sabha member, making him eligible for the post, while Suresh lost elections in 1998 and 2004 which makes his current term as the fourth straight one in the lower house. Earlier, he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989, 1991, 1996 and 1999.

On Monday, President Droupadi Murmu will administer the oath to Mahtab as the pro-tem Speaker of the Lok Sabha at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Mahtab will then reach Parliament House and call the Lok Sabha to order at 11 am.

The proceedings will begin with members observing a moment of silence on the occasion of the first sitting of the 18th Lok Sabha. This will be followed by Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh placing on the table of the House the list of the members elected to the lower house.

Mahtab will then call upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Leader of the Lok Sabha, to take oath as member of the House.

The pro-tem speaker will then administer oath to the panel of chairpersons appointed by the President to assist him in carrying out the proceedings of the House till the election of the Speaker on June 26.

The President has appointed Kodikunnil Suresh (Congress), T R Baalu (DMK), Radha Mohan Singh and Faggan Singh Kulaste (both BJP) and Sudip Bandyopadhyay (TMC) to assist Mahtab in administering the oath/affirmation to the newly elected members of the Lok Sabha.

After the panel of chairpersons, the pro-tem speaker will administer the oath/affirmation as Lok Sabha members to the Council of Ministers. The members from states, in alphabetical order, will take oath or make affirmation over the next two days.

The election to the post of Lok Sabha Speaker will take place on Wednesday and the prime minister will introduce his council of ministers to the House soon after.

The President is scheduled to address the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on June 27. The debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address will begin on June 28. The prime minister is expected to respond to the debate on July 2 or 3.

Both the Houses are expected to go into a brief recess and re-assemble on July 22 for the presentation of the Union Budget.

(With Inputs from PTI)