Maharashtra session begins, Speaker election on Oct 22

MUMBAI, OCT 20: The three-day session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly began on Wednesday with 72 MLAs taking oath to office including Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal. The oath was administered by pro-tem Speaker Shankarrao Kolhe of the Congress, who was sworn-in to the post by Governor P C Alexander earlier in the day at the Raj Bhawan.

Soon after the special session of the State Assembly began, Kolhe announced the panel of chairmen comprising Anand Devkate and Pramod Shende to conduct the business till a new Speaker was elected on October 22. Deshmukh, who has been told by Alexander to prove his majority on the floor of the house within 15 days, has yet to finalise the date. He had on Tuesday said the date for the trust vote would be finalised by the business advisory committee of the House on October 22.

Leader of Opposition Narayan Rane and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde were also administered oath by Kolhe. Former ministers Eknath Khadseand Vihnu Savra took the oath in Sanskrit while the remaining members of the 288-member Lower House would be administered oath on Thursday.

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Interesting to note in this Assembly session was the reversal of roles. The front benches in the Opposition were occupied by Rane, Munde, fromer speaker Dattaji Nalavade and former minister Leeladhar Dake while the front row of the treasury benches were occupied by Deshmukh, Bhujbal and senior ministers Dr Padamsinh Patil, Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil and Madhukarrao Pichad.

Nationalist Congress Party Minister Vimal Mundada, who had defected from the BJP just prior to elections, and former speaker Dattaji Nalawade received a huge round of applause from both the benches.