Maharashtra |Special Assembly Begins; Fadnavis, Pawar Take Oath

The swearing-in of members of the 14^thMaharashtra Legislative Assembly marked a rare occasion on Wednesday when theHouse assembled for the session without the formation of a government andappointment of the chief minister.

In-charge secretary of state Vidhan Bhawan RajendraBhagawat while quoted by news agency PTI said that during the last couple ofdecades, the chief minister was sworn in first followed by other members.

He further stated, "The floor test is also thenconducted immediately or in the following session. In the present case, nochief minister has been administered the oath, but the swearing-in ceremony ofHouse members is being held."

Bhagawat further reiterated that the Supreme Court'sinterim verdict has made it mandatory for us to carry out the swearing-inceremony. He said that the Assembly will come into motion without a head andthe Cabinet once the oath is administered to all the MLAs.

Bhagawat said that once the chief minister takes theoath, he will have to form a Cabinet adding that the schedule of the next fullsession would be decided in the first cabinet meeting and the floor test willbe held in that session.

A special session of the state Assembly began here onWednesday morning to administer oath to members in the 288-member House. Protem Speaker Kalidas Kolambkar is administering the oath to the legislators atthe session.