Jaipur: Newly elected Rajasthan legislators were sworn in as members of the 15th state assembly by Pro tem Speaker Gulab Chand Kataria on Tuesday. Of the 199 MLAs, the oath of office was administered by Kataria to 197. Six-time Congress legislator Hemaram Choudhary was not present at the ceremony, while Kataria had been administered oath as member of the house by Governor Kalyan Singh on Monday.
The ceremony started with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot followed by his deputy Sachin Pilot being sworn in as the member of the house. Ten MLAs took the oath in Sanskrit and two in English. Some legislators demanded that they be allowed to take oath in Rajasthani language, but the pro-tem speaker denied it saying the language was not yet included in the ninth schedule of the constitution.
Following this, the MLAs took the oath in Hindi. Bihari Lal Bishnoi, elected from Nokha assembly constituency, reached the assembly wearing a white mask with the demand of taking oath in Rajasthani written on it. Two legislators of Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) took the oath in the name of nature. Independent legislator from Mahua of Dausa district took oath barefoot. Another Independent MLA from Behror, Baljeet Yadav, reached assembly riding a tractor.
