Mumbai: As many as 105 members, including leaders of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, took oath as MLAs in the newly constituted Maharashtra legislative assembly on Sunday, the second day of the special session.
The opposition members had boycotted the oath-taking ceremony on Saturday, the first day of the special three-day session, alleging misuse of EVMs in the recently-held state polls.
Congress’s Nana Patole, Vijay Wadettiwar and Amit Deshmukh, NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad and Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Aaditya Thackeray were some of the prominent opposition MLAs who took oath as soon as the House reassembled for the day.
On Saturday, 173 MLAs took oath, while nine absent legislators will take oath on Monday.
Many first-time legislators took oath on Sunday, and there was a rush of family members for the ceremony.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday hit out at the opposition, accusing it of misleading people about electronic voting machines and not accepting their mandate.
Talking to reporters, Shinde said the ruling Mahayuti alliance won the November 20 assembly polls because of its work, and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi must accept the people’s mandate and support the government in development works.
The Mahayuti combine of the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP swept the recently held polls, winning 230 out of 288 seats, while the opposition bloc of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) managed just 46 seats. The opposition parties have alleged irregularities with EVMs for its poll losses and demanded the use of ballot papers.
