Ram Vilas Paswan takes oath as Rajya Sabha member

Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who has been elected to Rajya Sabha from Bihar, took oath as a member of the Upper House on Monday. The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief, a nine-term Lok Sabha member, was elected unopposed for his second term as a Rajya Sabha member in a by-poll necessitated by the resignation of his cabinet colleague Ravi Shankar Prasad. BJP's Prasad won Lok Sabha election from Patna Sahib constituency of Bihar in the recently-concluded national elections.

Paswan has been assigned the portfolio of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution for the second time in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. Newly elected BJP MP Ashwini Baishnab also took as a Rajya Sabha member. He was elected unopposed from Odisha.

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu administered the oath to both the members.