New Delhi:
Union ministers Prakash Javedkar and Nirmla Sitharaman and senior JD-U leader Sharad Yadav and NCP's Praful Patel today took oath as members of Rajya Sabha.
Commerce and Industry Minister Sitharaman (BJP), who was elected to Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh, took oath in English while I&B and Environment Minister Prakash Javedkar, who was elected from Madhya Pradesh, took oath in Hindi.
Gulam Rasool Balyawi and Pawan Kumar Verma (both JD-U), who were elected to Rajya Sabha from Bihar recently, also took the oath.
From Karnataka, MV Rajeev Gowda and B K Hariprasad (both Cong) took oath while Anubhab Mohanty and Bhupinder Singh (BJD) from Odisha also took oath as also SP's Vishambhar Prasad Nishad (Uttar Pradesh).
Members shook hands with Chairman Hamid Ansari and greeted leaders after taking oath. After the oath, the House mourned the death of its former member Shanti G Patel.
Mr Ansari said Patel, a doctor by profession, passed away on June 13, 2014 at the age of 14 years. Patel, who was Mayor of Mumbai during 1970-71, represented the state of Maharashtra in the Upper House from July 1980 to July 1986.
"In passing away of Mr Patel, the country has lost a veteran freedom fighter, an able parliamentarian, a noted trade unionist and a dedicated social worker," Mr Ansari said.
The House also lauded PSLV-23 successfully launching 5 satellites of France, Germany, Canada and Singapore on June 30. The successful launch, Mr Ansari said, was yet another milestone in success story of Indian space programme for which scientists and technicians need to be congratulated.