Maharashtra: BJP's Kalidas Kolambkar takes oath as Protem Speaker

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kalidas Kolambkar on Tuesday took oath as the Protem Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly here at Raj Bhavan.

"Tomorrow the first session of new assembly begins. From 8.00 am onwards, oath will be administered to the MLAs," Kolambkar said.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath to Kolambkar, a eight-term MLA of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Kolambkar was elected from the Wadala assembly constituency of Mumbai.

This comes after Devendra Fadnavis announced his resignation as Maharashtra's chief minister, hours after the Supreme Court ordered a floor test in the state assembly. Earlier in the day, his deputy, NCP's Ajit Pawar resigned from the post, just three days after he was sworn in.

"We realised that we don't have the required numbers to form the government and we don't want to indulge in horse-trading," Fadnavis told reporters after announcing his decision.

In a sudden turn of event, both Fadnavis and Pawar were administered the oath on Saturday morning, nixing Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP's bid to form government in the state.