Notably, a total of 280 out of the 288 MLAs have taken their oath so far. A few MLAs missed taking the oath due to personal reasons. They can take the oath tomorrow or on a later date in the Speaker's chamber, a source from the Maharashtra legislature said
Pic/PTI
After opposition legislators took their oaths on Sunday during the Maharashtra Assembly’s special session, following an initial 'boycott' on Saturday, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader Rohit Pawar emphasised that taking the oath was necessary to "raise people’s issues" during the session and "prevent those in power from unilaterally imposing their will".
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Notably, a total of 280 of the total 288 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) have taken their oaths so far. A few MLAs missed the oath owing to personal reasons, but they can take it tomorrow or at a later date in the Speaker’s chamber, a source from the Maharashtra legislature said.
This development comes after 115 MLAs, largely from the opposition, refused to take their oaths on Saturday as a 'symbolic protest' against doubts regarding the legitimacy of the poll results, news agency ANI reported.
Samajwadi Party (SP) MLAs Abu Azmi and Raees Sheikh, however, took their oaths of office on Saturday, despite opposition from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.
“Yesterday’s protest was symbolic. If we had not taken the oath today, how could we have raised people’s issues in the session? Otherwise, those in power could do whatever they wanted,” Rohit Pawar said on Sunday, according to ANI.
NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal downplayed the opposition’s boycott of the oath-taking ceremony at the Maharashtra Assembly’s special session, stating that the oath-taking ceremony typically spans two days. He implied that the opposition MLAs' decision to take the oath a day later was not a significant issue.
Not taking oath yesterday and taking it today is double-standard politics: Shiv Sena leader
“The oath-taking ceremony anyway goes on for two days. So, they (the opposition MLAs) took the oath today instead of yesterday,” he said, according to ANI.
Shiv Sena leader Uday Samant criticised the opposition, accusing them of “double-standard politics”. Samant asserted that because of this behaviour from the opposition alliance, the people of Maharashtra had given their mandate to the Mahayuti alliance.
Speaking to ANI, Samant said, “Not taking the oath (as MLAs) yesterday and taking it today is double-standard politics. The people of Maharashtra know this, and that’s why the voters of the state gave their mandate to Mahayuti.”
Earlier on Saturday, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray announced that the party’s winning MLAs would not take the oath of office, raising doubts about the legitimacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
“Today we have decided that our (Shiv Sena UBT) winning MLAs will not take the oath. If this was the mandate of the people, they would have been happy and celebrated it. However, there was no such celebration or enthusiasm from the public. We have doubts about EVMs,” Aaditya Thackeray said on Saturday.
Notably, MVA alliance partners have been questioning the legitimacy of EVMs following their setback in the Maharashtra Assembly Election 2024.
Approach EC if you have concerns: Ajit Pawar to MVA
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar responded to Aaditya Thackeray’s allegations about the legitimacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), stating that the opposition should approach the Election Commission or the courts if they had concerns.
“There is no point in making such allegations here. They (the opposition) should go to the Election Commission, and if they do not get justice there, they should approach the court,” said newly sworn-in MLA Ajit Pawar.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took their oaths as members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Saturday.
Senior BJP MLA Kalidas Sulochana Kolambkar was sworn in as the pro-tem Speaker of the Assembly by Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan on Friday, a day before the start of the three-day special session of the Assembly.
Devendra Fadnavis took his oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister for the third time in an event held in Mumbai on Thursday, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with several leaders of the alliance and celebrities from various fields. Deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde also took their oaths during the occasion.
The Maharashtra Assembly Election 2024 witnessed a decisive victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance, securing a landslide win with 235 seats. The Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party also made notable gains, with 57 and 41 seats, respectively.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a major setback, with Congress winning just 16 seats. Its alliance partner, Shiv Sena (UBT), won 20 seats, while the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) secured only 10 seats.
(With ANI inputs)
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