Lawmakers of the Madhesh Province Assembly have taken the oath of office and secrecy on Friday.

Govinda Neupane, the senior-most lawmaker of the Assembly, administered the oath to 104 lawmakers in Janakpurdham, the provincial capital. Earlier on Thursday, 71-year-old Neupane was administered his oath by Hari Shankar Mishra, the Head of Madhesh Province.

Forty-nine lawmakers took the oath in their mother tongue and most were seen in their cultural attire. According to the Assembly Secretariat, 13 lawmakers took the oath in Bajjika, 10 in Maithili, seven in Bhojpuri, three in Tharu and two in Magahi languages.

Some lawmakers had registered to take the oath in Hindi and Urdu. The provision provides that if the lawmakers want to take the oath in their mother tongue, they must translate the oath in their mother tongue and register a copy of the translation at the Assembly Secretariat three days prior to the oath-taking ceremony.

Meanwhile, Razi Haider and Mala Karna, both lawmakers elected through the proportional list of CPN (Maoist Centre), have been barred from taking the oath as per an interim order issued by the Supreme Court, informed Ranjit Kumar Yadav, secretary at the Assembly Secretariat.

The 107-member assembly has 23 lawmakers from the CPN-UML, 22 from Nepali Congress, 16 from Janata Samajbadi Party, 13 from Janmat Party, nine from Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, eight from CPN (Maoist Centre), seven from CPN (Unified Socialist), and one each from Nepal Sanghiya Samajbadi Party, Nepal Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Nagarik Unmukti Party. The provincial assembly has six lawmakers elected as independents.

In the oath-taking of the first Madhesh Province Assembly in 2017, 47 had taken the oath in Maithili, 25 in Bhojpuri, 24 in Nepali and 11 in Hindi.