New Delhi:
On the first day of the 16th Lok Sabha, the changed seating arrangements reflected the altered power dynamics in the House. The newly-elected MPs greeted each other and later, stood in a shared moment of silence as a tribute to union rural development minister Gopinath Munde, who died in a road accident yesterday. The House was adjourned after the obituary reference.
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Former union Minister Kamal Nath, who is the most senior member of the Lok Sabha, was earlier elected as the Pro-Tem Speaker. The adjournment of the House after paying tributes to Mr Munde has created a piquant situation. The other members will be sworn in tomorrow. It means that Mr Nath, 67, will be the only member of the Lok Sabha for the next 24 hours. (Kamal Nath Appointed Protem Speaker of Lok Sabha)
Senior BJP leader and former union minister Sumitra Mahajan is likely to be elected as the full-time Speaker of the Lok Sabha on Friday. After Meira Kumar, she will be the second woman lawmaker to hold the post. She also holds the distinction of being the woman lawmaker with the longest parliamentary experience. She has been a member of the Lok Sabha without a break since 1989. (Sumitra Mahajan Set To Be Next Speaker of Lok Sabha: Sources)
When the Lok Sabha met today to pay homage to Mr Munde, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 63, was seen sitting in the corner of the first row of the treasury benches. It was the first time he had entered the Lok Sabha. Clad in an off-white, cream-colored Kurta, Mr Modi walked into the House amidst a loud thumping of benches by the NDA members. He was followed closely by BJP veteran L K Advani. (For Gopinath Munde's Funeral, A Sea of People in Beed)
Before taking his seat, Mr Modi went around the well of the Lok Sabha. As he reached the Congress benches, Congress president Sonia Gandhi walked into the House through the aisle. They greeted each other with folded hands. Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav shook hands with the Prime Minister, and congratulated him for leading his party to a spectacular victory. (Modi Fights Back Tears in First Speech In Parliament House)
The change in the seating arrangements reflected the change in power dynamics. The NDA members occupied the treasury benches, which was thickly populated. Facing them across the well were the Congress members. Their benches were relatively empty. The Congress has been reduced to its lowest-ever tally in the Lok Sabha. It could only garner 44 seats, and is only marginally ahead of the AIADMK, which won 37 seats. (Will Work for the Hopes & Dreams of People: PM Outside Parliament)
Mr Advani sat next to Mr Modi, reflecting the change in the pecking order within the BJP. Seated next to them were Murli Manohar Joshi, Ram Vilas Paswan, who heads the Lok Janshakti party, or the LJP, M Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh. Nitin Gadkari, a former BJP chief, was sitting in the second row.
The Congress benches too reflected the shift in its equations within the House. The party's leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge was seated in the corner, facing the Prime Minister. Next to him sat Mrs Gandhi, M Veerappa Moily and K H Muniyappa.
It is the first time in three decades that a political party has secured a comfortable majority on its own. The BJP won 282 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, 10 more than the half-way mark of 272. The Lok Sabha has a strength of 543. The BJP's allies won another 54 seats.
The new Lok Sabha has as many as 315 members who are making their debut in the Lok Sabha. This, according to PRS Legislative Research, is the highest number of first-time MPs in the Lok Sabha in the last three decades. These numbers include MPs who might have been Members of the Rajya Sabha before, but have been elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time, a statement said.
The representation of Muslims in the 16th Lok Sabha is among the lowest ever. There are only 20 community members who have been elected this time. Uttar Pradesh, which sends the largest contingent of 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha, failed to send a single Muslim to the House. 12 MPs in the new Lok Sabha are below the age of 30. Dushyant Chautala (INLD) and Heena Gavit (BJP), at 26, are the youngest members, while former deputy prime minister LK Advani is the oldest MP at the age of 86.
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