Mumbai: The Congress, the Shiv Sena(UBT) and the NCP(SP) legislators on Saturday decided not to take the oath as members of the Legislative Assembly to protest against EVMs. A three-day special session of the Maharashtra Assembly commenced on Saturday to administer oaths to newly elected MLAs.
In the Maharashtra Assembly election held on November 20, the ruling Mahayuti alliance returned with 235 seats in the 288-member House. The Congress, the Shiv Sena(UBT) and the NCP(SP), which were part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), won 16, 20 and 10 seats, respectively. However, the leaders of the three parties refused to accept it as the people’s mandate and expressed suspicion of EVM manipulation.
The legislators of the three parties were present in the House as the day’s proceedings began at 11 am. However, they staged a walkout after chief minister Devendra Fandavis and two deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took oaths.
State Congress chief Nana Patole said, “There is a feeling among the people that this government was not elected on their votes. Respecting public opinion, members of the MVA have decided not to take their oath today.”
A legislator does not become a member of the House without taking an oath of secrecy. The swearing-in of the MLAs will take place over two days -- on Saturday and Sunday -- and it is expected that the MLAs who abstained from Saturday’s proceedings will be administered the oath on Sunday.
Interestingly, the two MLAs of the Samajwadi Party, which is also part of the MVA, did not boycott the proceedings and took their oaths.
Pro-tem Speaker Kalidas Kolmbkar administered the oath to legislators including Mr Fadnavis, Mr Shinde and Mr Pawar. However, when Mr Patole’s name was called out, he opted to leave the House. Subsequently, the members of the three parties paid respect to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at his statue in the Vidhan Bhavan premises and protested against EVMs.
Shiv Sena(UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray said, “We are not against taking the oath of secrecy as MLAs, but we have chosen not to do so today in protest against EVM manipulation.”
Calling it a murder of democracy by using EVMs, Mr Thackeray further said, “This is not the mandate of the people. It is the mandate of EVM and the Election Commission.”
However, the Mahayuti leaders said that the MVA must accept its defeat and stop trying to find an excuse in EVMs. Senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said, “The MVA candidates lost because of their leaders and not because of EVMs. MVA leaders lost people’s trust because of their own conduct. EVMs had nothing to do with it.”
Mr Pawar said whoever has a problem with EVMS should approach the Election Commision or courts. “When they won 31 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, they found nothing wrong with EVMs. Now that they have lost the Assembly elections, they are crying against EVMs. There is no point in it,” he said.
After the swearing-in of MLAs is over, the election for the Speaker is scheduled for December 9, followed by a trust vote for the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government.
