After the controversy broke out over slogan chanting in Rajya Sabha, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari wrote to Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla expressing the need to issue an advisory for the newly elected representatives to follow during the oath ceremony.
Stating that such directions will preserve the “sanctity and dignity” of the oath-taking process, the Maharashtra Governor said that newly elected members of parliament and state legislatures were drifting away from the recommended way of oath-taking.
“Adding names of party leaders or any other person to whom members owe their faith or allegiance, to the format of the oath-taking, violates the sanctity of the oath-taking process,” Koshyari wrote in two separate letters.
The Governor further narrated that he had to intervene and direct some of the members during the oath ceremony last year in December to repeat their oath without any addition or deletion as per the prescribed form of language for oath-taking.
In December 2019, Koshyari had intervened two members - both Congress MLAs - while they were swearing-in as ministers in the Uddhav Thackeray government. One was Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad and the other was Kagda Chandya Padvi who holds the Tribal Affairs Ministry.
Gaikwad was stopped mid-way by Governor Koshyari as she mentioned BR Ambedkar’s name while taking the oath. Meanwhile, Padvi was asked to take the oath again as he expressed gratitude to his voters at the end.
“Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari today urged Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to come up with an advisory to be adhered to in the context of the form and oath being read out by members,” a statement issued by Raj Bhavan said while adding that the Governor has observed members of parliament and state legislatures adding the names of their party leaders or venerable personalities while reading oath.
In his letters, Koshyari has urged the Rajya Sabha chairman and Lok Sabha Speaker “to examine and deliberate upon” the issue and come up with directions to all concerned stakeholders to safeguard the sanctity and dignity of the oath-taking process.
Recently, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Udyanraje Bhosale gave slogans - “Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji” - at the end of his oath in Rajya Sabha. However, Naidu objected to it and said no other slogans are allowed in the house.
This created a ruckus among the leaders of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) who alleged that Naidu’s remarks were an “insult” to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. However, the Vice President clarified that he meant no disrespect and said that he was reminding the newly elected members that no slogans are allowed at the time of taking an oath.
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