NEW DELHI: NCP-SCP leader Sharad Pawar and Union Minister Ramdas Athawale were among 19 new Rajya Sabha members who took oath here on Monday.
The oath was taken in the presence of Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan. Deputy Chairman Harivansh and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju were present during the ceremony in the Rajya Sabha chamber.
Floor leaders of respective parties were also present in the House.
The newly elected members comprised five from Maharashtra, six from Tamil Nadu, five from West Bengal and three from Odisha.
Maya Chintaman Ivnate of the BJP unit in Maharashtra was the first to take the oath, followed by Pawar, who arrived in a wheelchair.
Ramrao Sakharam Wadkute (BJP), Jyoti Nagnath Waghmare (SS) and Athawale (RPI-A) also took oath as members representing Maharashtra in the Upper House.
Manmohan Samal (BJP), Sanrupt Mishra (BJD) and Dilip Kumar Ray (Ind) took oath as members from Odisha, while Constandine Ravindran (DMK), Christopher Manickam (Congress), L K Sudhish (DMDK), M Thambidurai (AIADMK), Tiruchi Siva (DMK) and Ambumani Ramadoss (PMK) took oath as members representing Tamil Nadu.
From West Bengal, Babul Supriya Baral (AITC), Biswajit Sinha (BJP), Menaka Guruswamy (AITC), Rajeev Kumar (AITC) and Rukmini Mallik (AITC) took oath.
Most members took oath in their respective regional languages.
Chairman Radhakrishnan congratulated all the newly elected members.