Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu is the first nominated member to take oath in the newly built Parliament on Wednesday, January 31, 2024. Sandhu, who serves as the founder-chancellor of Chandigarh University, took the oath alongside two other members, Narain Dass Gupta and Swati Maliwal.
"You have created history. You are the first person to have taken oath in the new building of Parliament," Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar told Sandhu, who also then extended a warm welcome to the new members following the oath-taking ceremony.
As per a notification issued by the Home Ministry, President Droupadi Murmu has appointed Sandhu to the upper house of Parliament. Identified as the offspring of a farmer, Sandhu is acknowledged as one of India's foremost educationists, the notification highlighted.
While Sandhu holds a nominated seat, Gupta and Maliwal secured their positions unopposed from Delhi.
Maliwal had to retake her oath as her initial attempt was invalidated by the Chairman due to the inclusion of some words that were not part of the official oath.
Gupta, renominated as a Rajya Sabha member by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and Maliwal, nominated by the AAP in place of Sushil Gupta, both assumed their roles.