Maharashtra Opposition's big move: MVA MLAs skip oath, allege 'doubts over EVM'

In protest, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday said that MLAs from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will boycott the oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected state assembly. A special three-day session of the newly-constituted 288-member Maharashtra legislative assembly began on Saturday, where MLAs will be administered the oath of office.

Shiv Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray said, "Today we have decided that our (Shiv Sena UBT) winning MLAs will not take oath. If this was the mandate of the people, people would have been happy and celebrated it, but people did not celebrate this victory anywhere. We have doubts about EVM," and added that 'Democracy is being murdered.'

Senior BJP MLA Kalidas Kolambkar on Friday took oath as a legislator and was then appointed pro-tem speaker of legislative assembly by Governor C P Radhakrishnan. A nine-time MLA, Kolambkar is the senior most legislator in the House and represents the Wadala assembly constituency in Mumbai. As pro-tem speaker, he will administer the oath of office to the rest of the 287 newly-elected MLAs. The assembly speaker's election will be held on December 9, which will be followed by a trust vote of the Devendra Fadnavis-led government and the governor's address to the joint sitting of both the houses of the state legislature.

Results of the November 20 assembly polls were declared on November 23, wherein the Mahayuti alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) registered a resounding victory by winning 230 of the 288 assembly seats.

The new government was sworn in on December 5 with Devendra Fadnavis returning as the chief minister, while Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief ministers.