Patna: Ten newly-elected members of the legislative council took oath of office on Wednesday, marking a formal start to their tenure in the Upper House. The members, elected unopposed in the byelection and biennial election include Nishant Kumar, son of former CM Nitish Kumar, and Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh.Council chairman Awadhesh Narayan Singh administered the oath at the Legislative Council Annexe Auditorium. Secretary-in charge Shankar Kumar read out the governor’s notification before the proceedings began.Those sworn in were Anil Thakur, Pawan Singh, Sanjay Prakash alias Sanjay Mayukh and Sheela Pandit from BJP; Lalan Prasad, Nishant Kumar, Bharti Mehta and Shivrani Devi from JD(U); Ashraf Ansari from LJP (RV); and Sunil Kumar Singh from RJD.Nishant, whose entry into the council has drawn attention, told reporters after the ceremony that he would fulfil the responsibilities given to him with diligence and work under the guidance of his father. He also said he would carry forward the work done by Nitish Kumar. His oath-taking was watched closely by political leaders and supporters present at the venue.The event was attended by senior leaders from across the political spectrum. Chief minister Samrat Chaudhary, deputy chief minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, assembly speaker Prem Kumar, deputy chairman of the council Ramvachan Rai, ministers Vijay Kumar Sinha, Dilip Kumar Jaiswal, Lesi Singh, Shravan Kumar, Sanjay Singh Tiger and Lakhindar Paswan were present on the occasion.Leader of opposition in the assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav also attended the event, along with deputy leader of the ruling party Lalan Sarraf, Rajendra Prasad Gupta, chief whip of the ruling party Sanjay Kumar Singh alias Gandhiji, deputy chief whip Reena Devi, JD(U) state president Umesh Singh Kushwaha and several legislators from both Houses.Officials said all 10 seats were decided without a contest after valid nominations remained within the number of vacancies. With Wednesday’s oath, the newly-inducted MLCs formally assumed their legislative responsibilities.
