NEW DELHI, 3 June 2004 — Emphasizing the major shift in its political composition and marking several role reversals, the Lok Sabha began its 14th session yesterday with a communist sworn in as pro tem speaker after last month’s surprise election triumph for the left-leaning Congress-led alliance.

Newly-elected members lined up to swear the oath of Parliament before veteran politician and communist Somnath Chatterjee, who was named speaker.

Chatterjee, 74, a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), was expected to be formally elected to take over the speaker’s chair tomorrow. The new 20-party Congress coalition government is headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a Sikh and first member of a religious minority in India to hold the job.

The Speaker’s chair, which was earlier occupied by Manohar Joshi of the right-wing, extremist party Shiv Sena. Now for the first time a member of the Left bloc holds that position. Chatterjee, sworn in as the pro-tem Speaker by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in the morning, chaired the proceedings.

BJP and its allies were seated in the opposition rows, with the Congress and its allies back in the saddle after around eight years. Hard-care, BJP stalwart former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani was the new opposition leader.

Congratulating the members on their election, Chatterjee urged them to maintain high traditions of House and strengthen roots of parliamentary democracy. Leader of the House and Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee was the first to take the oath. He was seated next to Manmohan, who at present is a member of the Rajya Sabha. Mukherjee took the oath in English.

Advani and former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee took their oaths in Hindi. Congress leader and chairperson of United Progressive Alliance Sonia Gandhi also took the oath in Hindi.

Advani and Vajpayee were seated next to each other in the front row of the opposition benches. Sonia, RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav and NCP leader Sharad Pawar were seated in the front row of Treasury benches. Vajpayee, who returned to the opposition benches after six years, elicited hearty desk thumping from across the house as he walked to the center of the house to read out his oath, just after Advani.

His tenure in the country’s highest executive office cut short by a defeat that he attributed to his party’s “overconfidence”, Vajpayee sportingly accepted the greetings of his successor Manmohan. Vajpayee later told reporters that his coalition would play the part of a “constructive opposition” but would not hesitate to raise issues detrimental to the nation. “We will not get into slanging matches,” he promised.

Rahul Gandhi, the fifth member of his family, to enter the corridors of power, was seated in the third row behind his mother. Media-men were also vying for photographs of the film stars, several of them elected to the Parliament for the first time.

During the first session, the speaker will be elected on June 4. The president will address the joint sitting of Parliament on June 7. The president’s address is expected to focus on Common Minimum Program, which is partly devoted to reversing and reviewing many of BJP-led coalition’s measures — including Prevention of Terrorism Act. From June 8 to 10, both houses will debate and vote on motion of thanks to president for his address. Debate is expected to turn into bitter war of words, with NDA going all out to defend its stand on POTA and other issues.

Analysts say Manmohan, who has never held an elected post, will have to perform a tightrope act to keep all allies happy as Congress has just 145 seats in the 543-member elected lower house. Parliament will re-open in July when all eyes will be on presentation of the government’s first budget by Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram.

Chidambaram has said the government would focus on agriculture in the farm-dependent nation and manufacturing to spur job creation at the same time as keeping a lid on the fiscal deficit.

Chidambaram met key stock market players in Mumbai yesterday and assured them the new government was committed to achieving a high economic growth rate.

“The overarching objective is to place India on the growth path of seven to eight percent. All this must be done subject to fiscal prudence and discipline,” he said.

Chidambaram is due to meet industrialists, the central bank governor and financial institution heads today for their suggestions on improving the market sentiment and policy inputs for the forthcoming budget.