Staff Reporter / New Delhi
Swapan Dasgupta, Mahesh Jethmalani, Dr. V Sivadas and John Brittas were sworn in as member of Rajya Sabha today. The oaths were administered at chamber of the Rajya Sabha Chairman, M Venkiah Naidu.
John Brittas and Dr V. Sivadasan have been elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first term. Among the nominated members, Swapan Dasgupta has been re-nominated to Rajya Sabha while Mahesh Jethmalani has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha for the first time.
Dr. Sivadasan’s ascend to Rajya Sabha drew on his robust history of protests that quaked opponents. Sivadasan was SFI All-India President. He had been imprisoned in 3 of country’s jails including at Tihar as students’ protest leader.
Staunch Leftist John Brittas is the first visual media journalist to enter Rajya Sabha. Brittas has 3 decades of Left political activism through news media to his credit. Incidentally, his first job as Deshabhimani reporter in Delhi involved reporting news in Rajya Sabha sessions.
Mr Naidu welcomed the newly elected/nominated/re-nominated Members of the Rajya Sabha and conveyed his best wishes after they had taken the oath.
Mr Naidu stated that holding a public office is a 24×7 responsibility which entails a never ending accountability towards the citizens of the country. People have a lot of expectations from the Members and as their representatives, it is the bounden duty of the Members to voice concerns as well as aspirations of the people through various parliamentary devices from the floor of this august institution.
Naidu advised the Members to maintain high standards of conduct in public life befitting the decency, dignity and decorum of this ‘House of Elders’.
Naidu further advised the Members to go through publications including ‘Rajya Sabha at work’, ‘Practice and Procedure of Parliament’ by Kaul and Shakdher, ‘Members Handbook’, ‘Rule Book’ and other publications related to Parliamentary practices to enable them to become conversant with the practice and procedures of the House and enrich their knowledge about its functioning.
Shri Naidu informed that the newly elected/nominated/re-nominated members will be nominated to various Parliamentary Committees which function during inter-Session period and after getting nominated to the Parliamentary Committees, they will get an opportunity to make useful contribution in the Committee proceedings on important issues relating to public welfare.
A new MP from Kerala, Abdul Wahab, could not turn up for the oath-taking owing to health reasons.