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Lok Sabha session begins

The first session of the 13th Lok Sabha commenced today with oath-taking by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi, members of the Union council of ministers and other members.

The oath was administered by Pro-tem Speaker Indrajit Gupta who was earlier sworn in by President K R Narayanan at an impressive ceremony at the Rashtrapathi Bhawan.

As soon as the House assembled the members observed a minute's silence as is customary on such solemn occasions.

Vajpayee and Sonia took the oath in Hindi.

Then the members of the Union council of ministers took oath in alphabetical order beginning with Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani. He was followed by Culture Minister Ananth Kumar. Urban Employment Minister Satyanarain Jatiya and several others took the oath in Sanskrit. Maneka Gandhi was the first minister to take oath in English.

The oath-taking process is expected to continue for the rest of the day and tomorrow.

UNI

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