Smriti receives longest applause while taking oath as LS member

Union minister Smriti Irani, who defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, received the longest applause when she took oath as a member of the 17th Lok Sabha on Monday (June 17).

As soon as she was called for oath taking, ruling BJP members, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah as well as other Union ministers and MPs were seen enthusiastically thumping the desk for a long time.

After taking oath in Hindi, Irani greeted pro-tem speaker Virendra Kumar and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi’s mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who reciprocated the greetings with a ‘namaste’. Rahul Gandhi was not present in the House at that time.

Later in a tweet, Irani thanked Prime Minister Modi for giving her the opportunity to contest the elections from Amethi.

आज अमेठी से लोकसभा के निर्वाचित सदस्य के रूप में शपथ ली। प्रधानमंत्री @narendramodi जी, @AmitShah जी के प्रति धन्यवाद व्यक्त करती हूँ जिन्होंने मुझे अमेठी का प्रतिनिधित्व करने का अवसर दिया एवं अमेठीवासियों के प्रति आभार जिन्होंने @BJP4Amethi व मुझे अपना आशीर्वाद प्रदान किया। pic.twitter.com/FgE4zYpoHn

— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) June 17, 2019

The Union textile Minister defeated Gandhi by a margin of over 55,000 votes in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi constituency, considered as the pocket borough of Gandhi family for long.