Senior leaders V. Maitreyan of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and D. Raja of Communist Party of India (CPI) were among the five newly elected MPs from Tamil Nadu who took oath as members of Rajya Sabha.
While Maitreyan and Raja were re-elected, T. Rathinavel, K.R. Anjuman and K. Lakshmanan (all AIADMK) have been elected for the first time to the Upper House in the recent biennial elections.
The oath-taking ceremony was held in the chamber of Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari Friday in his presence.
DMK member Kanimozhi who, too, has been re-elected, did not take her oath Friday and is likely to do so when the Monsoon Session commences from August 5.
The notification in respect to their election was issued Thursday. They were declared elected on June 27.
Maithreyan, who is also the leader of his party in Rajya Sabha, has won a third term while CPI secretary Raja secured his second stint in the house with the help of AIADMK.
The party position in AIADMK-dominated Tamil Nadu assembly stands thus: AIADMK-151, DMDK-29 (including seven dissidents), DMK-23, CPI(M)-10, CPI-8, Congress-5, PMK-3, MMK and Puthiya Tamizhagam two each and Forward Bloc, one.
Upon taking their oaths, Raja and Maitreyan said they would raise issues related to Tamil Nadu in the Upper House.
“We will fight for the rights of Tamil Nadu,” Maitreyan said.
Raja said he would continue to raise issues related to Sri Lankan Tamils and the problems faced by Tamil fishermen while also taking up popular concerns like price rise and inflation.
On whether he saw a very hectic role for himself and the Opposition in general in the coming sessions, Raja replied saying that would be obvious as the government was in its last year of tenure and the Lok Sabha polls were approaching.