Srinagar, June 24: Linguistic diversity was at play as four of the five Members of Parliament from Jammu and Kashmir and a Member of Parliament from the Ladakh Union Territory took oath as Members of the 18th Lok Sabha in different languages on Monday.
Union MoS (Independent Charge) Science and Technology; Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, PP and DoPT, Atomic Energy, and Space Jitendra Singh took oath as MP in Dogri language. Singh was elected for the third consecutive time from Udhampur-Doda constituency.
He had also scored a hat-trick by making it to Modi 3.0 Council of Ministers as the Minister of State (Independent Charge).
Singh was among 71 members of the Council of Ministers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In the parliamentary polls, Singh defeated Congress candidate Chowdhary Lal Singh.
After he became an MP for the first time in 2014, he was made the Union Minister of State in PMO.
He retained this charge with additional crucial ministries (independent charge) during his second tenure as well, beginning in 2019.
BJP candidate from Jammu Lok Sabha seat, Jugal Kishore Sharma also took oath in Dogri language.
Sharma defeated his Congress rival Raman Bhalla by 1,35,498 votes in the parliamentary polls.
In 2019, Sharma from the Jammu-Poonch parliamentary seat had also defeated the same opponent.
He had also won the Jammu seat in 2014 against Congress’ Madan Lal Sharma.
Before scoring a hat-trick as an MP, Jugal, a dedicated RSS worker, had also served as an MLA from Nagrota twice.
He has also worked as J&K BJP president.
Mian Altaf Ahmad Larvi, the newly elected Member of Parliament from the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency, took oath as a Lok Sabha member.
Altaf chose to take his oath in Urdu, an official language of Jammu and Kashmir.
A veteran politician and five-time former Member of the Legislative Assembly from Kangan, Altaf represents the National Conference (NC).
He had registered a comfortable victory from the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat defeating his rival and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti by a margin of 2,81,749 votes.
For a change, NC Member Parliament and prominent Shia cleric Agha Rahullah took oath in the Kashmiri language.
Ruhullah had won the Srinagar parliamentary constituency seat.
Ruhullah’s triumph marked a critical moment in the political narrative of Kashmir, underscoring a clear mandate from the electorate on the contentious issues.
Ruhullah secured a commanding total of 3,56,866 votes, decisively outpacing his nearest competitors Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra and Muhammad Ashraf Mir.
The results reflected a strong endorsement of Ruhullah’s leadership and his stance on key issues affecting the region.
Ruhullah’s campaign strongly focused on advocating for the restoration of Article 370 and addressing the grievances that followed the abrogation.
His victory speech highlighted his commitment to bringing the concerns of his constituents to the national stage, emphasising the restoration of rights and dignity for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, Awami Itehad Party (AIP) chief Engineer Rashid, who won the parliamentary election from the Baramulla constituency of north Kashmir could not take oath as a Member of Parliament as he continues to remain lodged in jail.
Rashid had defeated two heavyweights, former chief minister Omar Abdullah and Peoples Conference Chairman Sajad Lone to win the parliamentary polls from the Baramulla seat.
Meanwhile, an Independent candidate from Ladakh, Muhammad Haneefa Jan also took oath as Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha.
Jan won the Lok Sabha elections from Ladakh in his debut Parliament elections.
“I am deeply honoured to take the oath as a Member of Parliament, India committed to serving the people of Ladakh. I humbly seek Allah’s guidance and strength to fulfil my duties with wisdom and dedication, ensuring the well-being and progress of Ladakh’s citizens,” Jan posted on X after taking the oath.
Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab administered the oath to the newly elected MPs on the first day of the Parliament session.
The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha began on Monday with the swearing-in of all newly elected Members of Parliament and the session would run until July 3.