Adhikarimayum Sharda Devi, popularly known as Maimom Sharda Devi, on Monday took oath as a Member of the Rajya Sabha representing Manipur. The oath of office and secrecy was administered by Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan at the Rajya Sabha Chamber in Parliament House.
Sharda Devi, who is also the President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Manipur Pradesh, took the oath in the Manipuri language.
She was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Manipur on June 11 after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended with no other candidate remaining in the fray. She succeeds BJP leader Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba, whose term in the Upper House recently concluded.
With the oath-taking ceremony, Sharda Devi formally assumed office as Manipur’s lone representative in the Rajya Sabha. A senior BJP leader, she has held several key organisational responsibilities within the party and is expected to represent the state’s interests in Parliament, particularly on issues concerning development, peace, women’s empowerment and public welfare.
Sharda Devi was among seven newly elected and re-elected Rajya Sabha members who took oath before the Chairman. The other members were Jitendra Meghjibhai Kanzariya and Mansingh Meraman Parmar (Gujarat), M Nagaraja (Karnataka), Rajendra Hiralal Jain (Maharashtra) and Alka Singh (Rajasthan).
Of the seven members, four took the oath in Hindi, while one each took the oath in Kannada, Punjabi and Manipuri. Two members were elected from Gujarat, while one each represented Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur and Rajasthan.
The oath-taking ceremony was attended by Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Harivansh, Leader of the House and Union Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, Rajya Sabha members Jairam Ramesh and Praful Patel, Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha P.C. Mody, along with other senior officials of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
