Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu takes oath in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi, Dec 5: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, who was recently elected to Rajya Sabha from Haryana after crossing over from Shiv Sena to BJP, today took oath as a member of the Upper House.

Prabhu took oath in Hindi and swore in the name of God to declare his allegiance to the Constitution. After taking oath, he walked to Chairman Hamid Ansari, who warmly greeted him with a "welcome".

Prabhu also greeted leaders of various parties before signing the register as members greeted him with thumping of desks.

Earlier last month, Suresh Prabhu had resigned from the board of agrochemicals company UPL Ltd, days before becoming the Railway Minister in the NDA government.

In a filing to the BSE, UPL informed Prabhu resigned as Independent and Non- executive Director with effect from November 7. Prabhu took oath as the Union Railways Minister on November 9.

"At the next Board meeting of the company, the same will be placed for formal acceptance of the same," UPL said in a filing.

A Chartered Accountant, Prabhu was appointed on board of UPL on January 29, 2013. "The Board of Directors of the company wish to place on record their sincere appreciation for the support and valuable guidance given by Prabhu during his tenure as director of the company," Company's Chairman and Managing Director said Raju Shroff said.

The company is a leading global producer and exporter of crop protection and post-harvest agriculture chemicals including insecticides, fungicides and miticides. A member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Prabhu has been repeatedly elected Member of Parliament from Rajapur Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra as a member of the Shiv Sena.

He quit the party and joined the BJP on Nov 9, 2014.

PTI