Oppn waves constitution copies as Modi takes oath in 18th LS

New Delhi: In a show of strength, the opposition INDIA bloc members on Monday waved copies of the Constitution in Parliament as Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath as a member of the 18th Lok Sabha. Home Minister Amit Shah was also greeted in a similar manner.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan took oath as Lok Sabha member amid chants of NEET-NET by the opposition members even as a controversy is raging on the entrance examinations that has put the government in the dock.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Trinamool leader Kalyan Banerjee, and Samajwadi Party leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Awadhesh Prasad were seated in the first row in the opposition benches. In a prestige battle, Prasad defeated the two-time sitting BJP MP Lallu Singh from Faizabad, the constituency that comprises Ayodhya, by a margin of 54,567 votes.

Congress member Kodikunnil Suresh, DMK's T R Baalu and Trinamool Congress' member Sudip Bandyopadhyay walked out of the House when the oath-taking began as a mark of protest over the appointment of Mahtab as pro-tem Speaker. The three opposition members were named on the panel of chairpersons to assist the pro-tem Speaker.