Ramdas Athawale was one of the ministers who took oath during the cabinet reshuffle exercise.
Highlights
- Ramdas Athawale was one of the 19 new ministers to be sworn in today
- He forgot to say his own name while reading out the oath
- President Pranab interrupted his oath and reminded him
Ramdas Athawale, one of the 19 new ministers to join the Modi government, today apologized in the middle of his oath ceremony and started again.
Mr Athawale forgot to say his name while reading out his oath, but was quickly corrected by President Pranab Mukherjee.
"Apna naam boliye (speakout your name)," said the President.
Mr Athawale paused and corrected himself, mumbling "Sorry, sorry".
The 56-year-old politician from Maharashtra, a leader of BJP ally Republican Party of India, is known for his humour during Parliament debates.
He became a Rajya Sabha member last year. He was a member of the Lok Sabha for over a decade until he lost the 2009 national election.