Lok Sabha Speaker changes rule to bar MPs from any additional remarks during oath

NEW DELHI — Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has amended parliamentary rules to restrict newly elected MPs from using any additional words or remarks before or after taking the oath or affirmation of membership.

The Speaker has made an amendment to Rule 389 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha (Seventeenth Edition).

According to the amendment, a "member shall make and subscribe oath or affirmation, as the case may be, in accordance with the form set out for the purpose, in the Third Schedule to the Constitution of India and shall not use any word or expression or make any remark as a prefix or suffix to the form of oath or affirmation."

The amendment comes amid controversy over some MPs raising slogans like "Jai Palestine", "Jai Hindu Rashtra" while taking oath.

Recently, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi raised slogans of 'Jai Bhim, Jai Mim, Jai Telangana and 'Jai Palestine' in the House after taking oath as an MP. Apart from Owaisi, some other MPs were also seen raising slogans before or after taking oath.