CM Fadnavis, his deputies take oath as MLAs

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.