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The swearing in of the new members will begin on Thursday and continue on Friday, when the Lok Sabha speaker will be elected. Rediff.com contributor Renu Mittal reports
The opening day of the six-day session will begin on Wednesday but will be adjourned for the day after Secretary General P Sreedharan reads out the notification constituting the 16th Lok Sabha and the House pays tributes to Union Minister Gopinath Munde.
It is for the first time after independence that the Bharatiya Janata Party has come to power with a majority of its own. The first session of the new Lok Sabha was expected to open with joy and bonhomie but instead will open on a sombre note.
On Wednesday morning, Congress MP Kamal Nath will drive to Rashtrapati Bhawan where President Pranab Mukherjee will swear him in as the protem speaker, as he is now the senior-most MP in the Lok Sabha, having won the most number of elections. After the House convenes at 11 am, the Lok Sabha secretary general will read out the notification constituting the 16th Lok Sabha. Kamal Nath, who will be in the chair, will read out the obituary reference on the death of Union minister Gopinath Munde.
The swearing in of the new members was to begin on Wednesday. But now the swearing in will begin on Thursday and continue on Friday, when the election of the new speaker will take place.
Lok Sabha MP from Indore Sumitra Mahajan is likely to be the BJP’s choice for speaker in the 16th Lok Sabha.
The President of India will deliver his address to the joint houses of Parliament on June 9 and the motion of thanks on the address will take place on June 10 and 11. The house can be extended for another day if required but would then be adjourned. The budget session would be called in July to present the Union budget, preparations for which have already begun.
While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has more than a majority, the Congress led United Progressive Alliance would be hoping to get the post of the leader of opposition. As UPA chairperson, Sonia Gandhi had called a meeting of the UPA coordination committee, which was attended by all members including NCP leaders Sharad Pawar, Ajit Singh and E Ahmed from the Indian Union Muslim League.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi is hosting a special lunch for all party MPs on June 5 in an effort to boost their sagging morale and to press for the Congress to get the post of leader of the opposition, even though as a party they are short of 10 MPs.
It is not customary for Sonia Gandhi to invite Congress MPs for lunch or dinner at the beginning of the session but she has made an exception.
While Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter expressing her condolences to the family of Gopinath Munde, who is survived by his wife and three daughters, Rahul Gandhi visited the BJP office where his body was kept and offered a wreath on behalf of the Congress president. Congress leader Motilal Vora too visited the BJP office and laid a wreath on behalf of the All India Congress Committee.