By IANS,
Hyderabad : As many as 19 newly-elected members of the Andhra Pradesh assembly, who took oath in the name of deities, parents, rivers or people from their regions in violation of the rules, had to take the oath again Thursday following a ruling by protem speaker.
The protem speaker J.C. Diwakar Reddy said since the members deliberately deviated from the rules while taking oath Wednesday, they should take the oath afresh.
The ruling came after senior legislator P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju of the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) pointed out that several members deviated from the rules and imported extraneous considerations into oath. He also wanted the chair to impose a penalty of Rs.500 on each of such member.
Under the oath, every member has to swear in the name of god or solemnly affirm that he will bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of India as by law established.
Minister for Legislative Affairs K. Rosaiah too felt that the members did not adhere to the rules and that they should again take the oath. He said the members should not deviate from prepared text as it amounts to violation of the constitution.
Congress member E. Pratap Reddy took oath in the name of Bhramamba Mallikarjuna Swamy, deity of Srisailam temple, while another Congress member, K. Nageswara Rao took oath in the name of Lord Venkateswara.
Animal Husbandry Minister K. Paradhasaradhi took the oath in the name of Krishna river and R. Suryaprakash took the oath in the name of Godavari river.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) floor leader E. Rajender and D. Vinay Bhaskar took oath in the name of Telangana talli (mother Telangana), while T.G. Venkatesh (Congress) did in the name of Rayalaseema and P. Ramakrishna Reddi in the name of people of Palnadu region.
Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) member V. Geeta took the path in the name of people of Peethapuram, the constituency she is representing.