New House takes oath as Shah vies grand ceremony as PM

Newly elected 274 members of the House of Representatives were sworn in on Thursday, marking the formal constitution of the lower chamber of the federal parliament following March 5 elections.

The oath-taking ceremony was administered by the senior-most member of the House, Arjun Narsingh KC, at the newly built multipurpose hall of the Federal Parliament Secretariat in Singha Durbar.

KC himself had taken the oath a day earlier before President Ram Chandra Paudel, in line with constitutional provisions that mandate the eldest member to administer the oath to fellow representatives.

The process follows Articles 99 and 91(5) of the Constitution, as well as Section 75 of the House of Representatives Member Election Act, 2017, which requires elected members to be sworn in before assuming their duties.

The swearing-in follows the recent House of Representatives elections, which delivered a decisive mandate. The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) emerged as the dominant force with 182 seats, securing a near two-thirds majority in the 275-member House.

The Nepali Congress won 38 seats, followed by the CPN-UML with 25 and the Nepali Communist Party with 17. Other parties, including the Shram Sanskriti Party with seven seats and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party with five, also secured representation, while one independent candidate, Mahabir Pun, was elected.

Meanwhile, RSP senior leader Balendra Shah is set to take the oath of office and secrecy on Friday amid an unusually grand oath-taking ceremony. Reportedly, the ceremony will include blowing seven sankha followed by 108 batuks (young Brahmin boys) reciting Swasti Shanti chants and 16 Buddhist monks reciting the Ashtamangala.