MUMBAI — Two days after being sworn in as
Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took oath as MLA
along with deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, while the opposition MVA
boycotted the ceremony alleging EVM misuse.
The opposition members refused to take oath on the first
day of the three-day special session of the Maharashtra assembly after
questioning the Mahayuti's massive mandate and the trustworthiness of
electronic voting machines (EVMs).
They are likely to take oath on Sunday.
Fadnavis, Shinde and Pawar were administered the oath of
office as MLAs by pro-tem speaker Kalidas Kolambkar soon after the proceedings
began at 11 am.
Before them, Chainsukh Sancheti, Jaykumar Rawal (both
BJP), Manikrao Kokate (NCP) and Ashish Jaiswal (Shiv Sena) took oath as they
have been appointed as members of the pro-tem speaker's panel by Governor C P
Radhakrishnan. They were the first to take oath as members of the House on
Saturday.
CM Fadnavis, who represents Nagpur South-West assembly
constituency, took oath as a member of the state legislature's Lower House for
the sixth time, having been first elected as an MLA in 1999.
As Fadnavis' name was called out by the pro-tem speaker,
he was greeted by members of the treasury benches with thumping of desks. Some
members raised slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji'.
Deputy CM Eknath Shinde was also greeted with similar
slogans with BJP's Ashish Shelar, Girish Mahajan and Ravindra Chavan thumping
their desks before he took oath.
Deputy CM Ajit Pawar sported a traditional red 'pheta'
(head gear) with golden border. His party members raised 'Ekach (only one) Vada
(promise), Ajit Dada'.
Pawar, who represents Baramati seat, was first elected as
an MLA in 1991.
Kolambkar said 200 newly-elected MLAs, including several
who have been elected for the first time, took oath as members of the House.
NCP (SP) MLA Bapusaheb Pathare was the sole opposition
MLA to take oath on Saturday. Pathare said he met with an accident and was
unaware of the opposition plan to not take oath on the first day.
Talking to reporters on the premises of the Vidhan Bhavan
about the opposition's boycott, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said,
"The MVA has decided not to take oath as members of the house on day
one."
"When a government comes to power with such a
thumping majority, there are celebrations. But a question arises whether the
mandate it received was given by the people or (got with the help of) EVMs and
Election Commission of India," he said.
The opposition is also protesting against the curfew and
arrests made in Markadwadi village in Malshiras assembly constituency of
Solapur, where villagers have been demanding a mock poll using ballot papers,
Thackeray said.
"We are not taking oath considering the doubts that
people have in their mind," he added.
In the November 20 assembly polls, the Mahayuti alliance
of BJP, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP retained power,
winning 230 of the 288 assembly seats. The BJP won 132 seats, the Shiv Sena 57
and the NCP got 41 seats.
The MVA managed to win only 46 seats with Shiv Sena (UBT)
getting 20, Congress 16 and NCP (SP) 10.
Before the proceedings of the House began, Aaditya
Thackeray was seen shaking hands with CM Fadnavis as the two met on the Vidhan
Sabha premises.
Meanwhile, former assembly speakers Dilip Walse-Patil,
Rahul Narwekar, former deputy speaker Narhari Zhirwal, senior NCP leader
Chhagan Bhujbal, BJP leaders Vijaykumar Gavit, Girish Mahajan also took oath as
MLAs.
Of the 200 members, 190 took oath in Marathi, seven in
Sanskrit, one each in Hindi, Urdu and Sindhi.
Mahajan took oath in Sanskrit. The former minister said
he has taken oath six times as an MLA in the past and did so again for the
seventh time.
NCP leader Hasan Mushrif, Sana Malik, Abu Azmi (SP) and
Mohammad Khalique (AIMIM) took oath with an invocation to Allah.
NCP MLAs sported 'phetas' of pink colour.
The pink jacket being worn by Ajit Pawar, especially
during the election campaign, has become a talking point in political circles
and common people. It is being seen as Pawar's attempt to reach out to women
voters.
The Shiv Sena MLAs wore saffron 'phetas'.
Before entering the house, Fadnavis, Shinde and Pawar
paid floral tributes to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on the premises of the
state legislative assembly.
