45 of the 61 newly elected members of the Rajya Sabha took oath on Wednesday. Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu urged the newly elected members of the House to uphold rules and procedures while discharging their duties as the lawmakers for the country. He also urged the MPs not to fall prey to the temptation of disrupting the proceedings of the House for "short-term gains".
Meanwhile, the Vice President also stoked controversy. BJP MP Udayanraje Bhonsle, the descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, took the oath and after finishing his oath gave a slogan "Jay Bhavani, Jay Shivaji". However, Naidu objected to the slogan and said, "It's not a House, its my chamber."
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Naidu's objection irked many social media users who demanded him to apologise for "insulting" Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his descendant Udayanraje Bhonsle.
Here are a few Twitter posts:
Now, M Venkaiah Naidu has finally responded. Taking to Twitter, the Rajya Sabha Chairman said that he did not mean any disrespect. He added that as per conventional practice at the time of taking oath, no slogans are given.
"Always been a strong and vocal admirer of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and worshipper of Goddess Bhawani. Reminded Members that as per conventional practice at the time of taking oath, no slogans are given. No disrespect at all," he tweeted.
Meanwhile, Udayanraje Bhonsle said that there was nothing wrong with what happened. "If Maharaj would have been insulted, I would not have remained silent, I would have resigned there and then, but nothing like that has happened," he added.
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