Newly-elected members inducted as MLAs in Puducherry Assembly

Protem Speaker of the 30-member Puducherry Assembly V P Sivakolundhu today administered oath of office to the newly-elected members of the 14^th Assembly on the opening day of the session.

Fourteen elected members of the ruling Congress, two of its ally DMK, the lone Independent member from Mahe and the four opposition AIADMK members were administered the oaths separately by Sivakolundhu.

Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, who is a non-member of the House, did not take the oath. However, all eight members of the opposition AINRC, including former Chief Minister N Rangasamy, did not turn up for the oath-taking ceremony

Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao representing Yanam region, an enclave of Puducherry in Andhra Pradesh and V Ramachandran, the lone Independent from Mahe, an enclave in Kerala, took the oath in Telugu and Malayalam while the others took the oath in Tamil. Sivakolundhu of the ruling Congress was inducted as Protem Speaker by Lt Governor Kiran Bedi yesterday.

Before adjourning the proceedings of the House, the Protem speaker announced that the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker would be held when the House meets on June 11. He also said necessary notice for filing of nominations had been sent to all the members individually.