Sanskrit oaths resonate in Chhattisgarh assembly

RAIPUR: Four tribal legislators, including three from the tribal Bastar region, are among the half-dozen legislators who took their oath as MLAs in Sanskrit on the first day of the inaugural session of the 90-member House, while several others pledged in Hindi and the local Chhattisgarhi dialect.While five BJP legislators took their oath in Sanskrit, one Congress MLA also opted to take the pledge in Sanskrit.
Two former ministers, Kedar Kashyap and Lata Usendi, who won the election from Narayanpur (ST) and Kondagaon (ST) in the tribal Bastar region, respectively, took their oaths in Sanskrit.
Similarly, first-time BJP MLA Chairram Attami, who won from Dantewada (ST) in the same region, also followed suit.

Additionally, BJP legislator Prem Chand Patel, representing the Katghora assembly segment, and legislator from Aarang (SC) Guru Kushwant Singh also took their oaths in Sanskrit.
The lone Congress legislator who took the oath in the classical language is Vidyavati Sidar, elected to the assembly from Lailunga (ST) constituency.

While many members from both the BJP and Congress took the oath as MLAs in the local Chhattisgarhi dialect, prominent among them are former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, former speaker Dharamlal Kaushik, newly elected woman MLA Chaturi Nand, and BJP’s Asharam Netam.

Chhattisgarhi film star Anuj Sharma, who made it to the assembly for the first time, also preferred to take the oath in the local dialect.

The House became more attentive to witness the five-time Congress MLA from Konta constituency, Kawasi Lakhma, who has no formal education, being given a dictation of the oath by pro-tem speaker Ramvichar Netam. Lakhma fumbled a bit but repeated it successfully.

Lakhma, a minister in the previous Bhupesh Baghel government, retained his assembly seat, defeating BJP’s Soyam Mukka, a popular local leader, by a narrow margin.