Chandigarh, Oct 25 (IANS) On the first day of the first session of the 15th Haryana Legislative Assembly, senior Congress legislator Raghuvir Singh Kadian, serving as Pro-tem Speaker, on Friday administered the oath to 90 newly elected members.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, who is also the Leader of the House, was the first to take the oath as a member of the Vidhan Sabha.

Cabinet ministers Anil Vij, Krishan Lal Panwar, Rao Narbir Singh, Mahipal Dhanda, Vipul Goyal, Arvind Sharma, Shyam Singh Rana, Ranbir Gangwa, Krishan Kumar Bedi, Shruti Chaudhary and Aarti Singh Rao also took oath as members of the Assembly.

Subsequently, Ministers of State Rajesh Nagar and Gaurav Gautam, and the remaining MLAs were sworn in as members of the Assembly.

During the House proceedings, Chief Minister Saini proposed the name of MLA Harvinder Kalyan for the post of Speaker. The proposal was seconded by Cabinet minister Ranbir Gangwa and MLA Harvinder Kalyan was unanimously elected as the Speaker.

Belonging to the Other Backward Class (OBC), Kalyan represents the Gharaunda Assembly segment that falls in Karnal - a district not represented in the Saini ministry.

For the post of Deputy Speaker, Cabinet minister Krishan Lal Panwar proposed the name of Krishan Lal Middha. The proposal was supported by MLA Ghanshyam Das and Krishan Middha was unanimously elected as Deputy Speaker.

Chief Minister Saini, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Cabinet ministers Vij, Dhanda, Gangwa, and MLA Raghubir Singh Kadian along with other members extended wishes Kalyan on being elected as the Speaker and Middha as the Deputy Speaker.

With the BJP forming the government for a record third consecutive term by securing 48 of the 90 seats, defying an anti-incumbency of 10 years, Other Backward Classes leader Saini, 54, took oath as the Chief Minister for the second time on October 17 amid a galaxy of NDA leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The BJP government has also secured the support of the three Independent members. The Congress, which was hoping to return to power, only ended up with 37 seats while the Indian National Lok Dal won two. The Jannayak Janta Party, which was part of the BJP-led coalition that took power in 2019, failed to win any seat, and the Aam Aadmi Party also drew a blank.