Advertisement
As the House met on the first day of the monsoon session, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and Indian Union Muslim League leader P K Kunhalikutty took oath as members of Lok Sabha. While Farooq won the Srinagar seat bypoll, Kunhalikutty registered victory from Malappuram constituency. Abdullah took oath in Kashmiri, while Kunhalikutty preferred English.
Actor-politician Khanna, who was a Lok Sabha member from Gurdaspur, passed away in April at the age of 70. Dave (60), Union minister for Environment and Forest, passed away in May. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, while making the obituary references, also condemned the terrorist attack on Amarnath pilgrims and described it as a “cowardly” act.
Just before the proceedings began, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar greeted leaders from various parties including Sonia Gandhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Farooq.