Historic swearing-in ceremony on Gita by first MP

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Newly appointed Upper House MP Daniel Mookhey became the first* MP to be sworn into an Australian Parliament on the Hindu religious text ”“ The Bhagavad Gita.

Mr Mookhey replaced Steve Whan in the NSW Upper House and will take the oath of allegiance to the NSW people on The Gita this afternoon.

Born in Blacktown, Mr Mookhey is the son of migrants from the Punjab in northern India.

“It is an honour and a privilege to be the first Australian politician to take the oath on The Gita,” Mr Mookhey said.

“The Labor Party truly reflects the diversity of the NSW community. We are the only party in the NSW Parliament with Members of the Christian faith, various streams of Islam, Judaism ”“ and now Hinduism.”

In the Sanskrit translation, the Bhagavad Gita means “Song of the  Lord,” and is often referred to as simply The Gita. It is a 700-verse  Hindu  scripture and is part of the  Hindu epic  ”“  Mahabharata.

Mr Mookhey looked forward to joining the rejuvenated Labor Opposition as part of Labor Leader Luke Foley’s team.

Last week, 20 new Labor MPs joined the NSW Legislative Assembly and NSW Legislative Council.

*NSW Parliamentary library confirmed that Mr Mookhey was the first MP to do so.

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