173 Legislators Swear In on Opening Day of Special Maharashtra Assembly Session

Mumbai, Dec 7 (NationPress) A total of 173 legislators formally took their oaths on Saturday, marking the first day of the three-day special session of the newly established 15th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

The Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, along with deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, former Assembly speaker Dilip Walse-Patil, and previous ministers Chhagan Bhujbal, Chandrakant Patil, Girish Mahajan, and Hasan Mushrif, as well as first-time legislators Shrijaya Chavan (daughter of former CM Ashok Chavan) and Sana Malik (daughter of former minister Nawab Malik), were among those who took their oaths. Following the oath-taking, the Assembly was adjourned. The House is scheduled to reconvene at 11 a.m. on Sunday for the remaining legislators to take their oaths.

The proceedings were overseen by protem Speaker Kalidas Kolambkar, who announced a panel of presiding officers that included Chainsukh Sancheti, Jaikumar Rawal, Manikrao Kokate, and Ashish Jaiswal. Most legislators took their oaths in the name of God and Allah, while several, including Ajit Pawar, solemnly affirmed their allegiance to the Constitution of India. Some chose to take their oaths in the Sanskrit language.

Before and after the proceedings, the MahaYuti legislators raised slogans such as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Ki Jai, Jai Shriram, and Vande Mataram.

Earlier, a group of BJP legislators entered the Vidhan Bhavan chanting slogans like Bharat Mata Ki Jai, while NCP legislators, led by party president and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, donned pink turbans. In the lead-up to the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, Ajit Pawar had begun wearing a pink jacket, and party banners were prominently displayed in pink. Shiv Sena legislators, led by Deputy CM and party chief Eknath Shinde, arrived wearing saffron turbans.

The MahaYuti legislators, led by Fadnavis, Shinde, and Pawar, subsequently garlanded the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Meanwhile, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar criticized the Maha Vikas Aghadi for choosing not to take their oaths on Saturday, asserting they would need to do so on Sunday to participate in the proceedings on Monday.

Legislators from the MVA exited the House shortly after the session began. Later, they declared their refusal to take oaths as a protest against the administration's decision to prevent mock polling organized by villagers at Markadwadi in the Malshiras constituency, Solapur. Congress leaders Vijay Wadettiwar, Nana Patole, Aaditya Thackeray from Shiv Sena-UBT, and Jitendra Awhad from NCP-SP also abstained from taking their oaths to protest the EVM polling.

Ajit Pawar stated, “The opposition understands the entire legislative process. However, their attempt to assert their presence was lacking. There is no merit in blaming EVMs. I have also worked in the Maha Vikas Aghadi. For them, EVMs were acceptable when they won 31 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, but they started blaming EVMs after the Assembly results.”

NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal remarked, “If the Maha Vikas Aghadi legislators want to participate in House proceedings, they must take the oath. I have been a legislator since 1985, and I have never faced a situation like this. If they refuse to take the oath in the House, they will need to do so in the Speaker's chamber.”