Maha Assembly session begins; Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar take oath

A special session of the 14th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly commenced here on Wednesday to administer oath to the newly-elected members.

NCP MP Supriya Sule greeted party MLAs Ajit Pawar and Rohit Pawar at Vidhan Bhawan entrance before the commencement of the session.

"This day comes with a big responsibility," she told reporters.

In the House, pro tem Speaker Kalidas Kolambar announced Babanrao Pachpute, Vijaykumar Gavit and Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil as the presiding officers for administering oath of the members.

NCP leaders Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Congress leaders and former chief ministers Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj and former speakers Dilip Walse Patil (NCP) and Haribhau Bagade (BJP) were among the members to take oath early.

Presiding officers Pachpute and Gavit were the first to take oath followed by caretaker chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Ajit Pawar was greeted with thumping of desks from NCP members when he went to the podiumto take oath.

Newly-elected Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray was congratulated by members cutting across party lines.

The 29-year-old son of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray went up to all senior members to greet them.

Kolambkar was appointed as the pro-tem speaker by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday evening.

The newly-elected members could not take oath earlier even one month after the results of the Assembly polls were announced due to dramatic political developments in the state.

The state remained under President's rule for 13 days between November 12 and 23 after no political party was able to form a government.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Koshyari to appoint a pro tem speaker and ensure all elected members of the House are sworn in on Wednesday itself by 5 pm.

The BJP-led government, which was formed with the support of NCP leader Ajit Pawar on November 23, collapsed on Tuesday afternoon, after Pawar stepped down as deputy chief minister and Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister.

The 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' comprising the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress, on Monday submitted a letter claiming support of 162 MLAs to the governor.

The NCP has announced that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray would be the next chief minister of Maharashtra.

He will be sworn in CM on Thursday evening at Shivaji Park in Dadar, the place where his party holds traditional Dussehra rally each year.