Newly elected MLAs take oath of office, Uddhav Thackeray to be sworn in as Maha CM tomorrow
The swearing-in ceremony of the 14th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly marked a rare occasion when the House assembled without the formation of a government & appointment of a Chief Minister
The 288-members of the 14th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly took oath on Wednesday, while Uddhav Thackeray will be sworn in as Maharashtra Chief Minister on Thursday.
MLAs take oath of office
On Tuesday, BJP leader Kalidas Kolambkar had taken oath as the Protem Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly. He started administering the oath of office to the newly-elected MLAs at Vidhan Bhawan today.
Incidentally, the swearing-in ceremony of the 14th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly marked a rare occasion when the House assembled without the formation of a government and appointment of a Chief Minister.
Mumbai: Newly-elected Maharashtra MLAs take oath at the special Assembly session called by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. pic.twitter.com/5Xg17143RH
— ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2019
According to State Vidhan Bhawan’s in-charge secretary Rajendra Bhagawat, during the last couple of decades, the chief minister was sworn in first followed by other members.
“The floor test is also then conducted immediately or in the following session. In the present case, no chief minister has been administered an oath, but the swearing-in ceremony of House members is being held,” he was quoted as saying.
Uddhav to be sworn in as CM on Thursday
Following the collapse of the BJP-led government, the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress under the banner of ‘Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi’ submitted a letter claiming support of 166 MLAs to the governor and staked claim to form a government in the state.
The parties have unanimously backed Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as their Chief Ministerial candidate. He will be sworn in CM on Thursday evening at Shivaji Park in Dadar, the place where his party holds traditional Dussehra rally each year.
Meanwhile, since Uddhav is not a member of the Maharashtra legislature, he will have to become a member within six months after taking oath as the CM.
“I had never dreamed of leading the state. I would like to thank Sonia Gandhi and others. We are giving a new direction to the country by keeping faith on each other,” Uddhav said during a joint meeting of MLAs yesterday.
Sena MP Sanjay Raut confirmed that the party will invite PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, MNS chief Raj Thackeray, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, former Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav among others for Uddhav’s swearing-in ceremony.
No decision on Deputy CM, portfolios to be decided in few days
Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat has said the sharing of portfolios among the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress in the next state government will be finalised in a couple of days.
Speaking to reporters after taking oath as member of the 14th state Assembly on Wednesday, Thorat, the Congress Legislature Party leader in the House, said, “The ratio of portfolio-sharing will be finalised in next two days. The number of Cabinet and Minister of State (MoS) posts to be given to each party will also be finalised in next two days.”
No decision has been taken on who will be deputy CM, he added.
#Maharashtra Congress President Balasaheb Thorat in #Mumbai: No decision has been taken on who will be deputy CM. pic.twitter.com/G2BKMxKr0p
— ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2019
Asked whether Congress president Sonia Gandhi or party leader Rahul Gandhi would attend Thackeray’s swearing-in ceremony, Thorat said, “Nothing has been finalised so far on this.”
He also said that there will be more clarity on some issues, like Speaker of the Assembly, after a couple of days.
