THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Mavelikkara MP Kodikunnil Suresh's new-found love for Hindi, which he showed while taking oath in that language in the 17th Lok Sabha on Monday, landed him in trouble with former party president Sonia Gandhi reportedly pulling him up for it. This she did in the background of various states opposing the central government's move to impose Hindi. She asked him why he did not take the oath in his own language as was done by Kasaragod MP Rajmohan Unnithan and Palakkad MP V. K. Sreekandan. It was reported that Sonia Gandhi sought an explanation from him. But Congress MPs termed the report as baseless.
Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi took the oath in English.
Kodikunnil Suresh, six-time MP, was the second member to take oath after Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This indicated that Kodikunnil is likely to be the parliamentary party leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha. Kodikunnil's use of Hindi was welcomed by other members with loud thumping of desks. He was administered the oath by pro-tem Speaker Virendra Singh, MP from Madhya Pradesh.
"Sonia Gandhi asked me why I took the oath in Hindi. Last time, I had taken the oath in English. So this time I wanted to make a change," said Kodikunnil.
The other day when Mr Modi called an all-party meeting ahead of the budget session, the Congress was represented by Kodikunnil Suresh and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from West Bengal. In the 16th Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge was the Congress parliamentary party leader. But he was defeated by a BJP candidate from Gulbarga, Karnataka.
Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tiwari are also being considered for the CPP leader post. Tharoor may take the oath only on Tuesday as he was travelling to Delhi from London.
Remya Haridas, the lone woman MP from Kerala representing Alathur, took the oath in English. All the 19 MPs, including the lone CPM MP, A. M. Ariff, greeted Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi before they walked to the podium to take the oath.
