Maharashtra: Devendra Fadnavis takes oath as MLA at 3-day special assembly session in Mumbai

Maharashtra Assembly session 2024: The Maharashtra chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader?Devendra Fadnavis took the oath as MLA at?a three-day special session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in Mumbai today (December 7). Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar also took the oath of MLA on Saturday.

The three leaders were administered the oath as MLAs by the legislative assembly's pro-tem speaker Kalidas Kolambkar soon after the proceedings of the House began at 11 am. The pro-tem speaker will administer the oath of office to the rest of the newly-elected MLAs.

A 3-day session will be held to enable newly-elected MLAs to take oath and elect a speaker. The newly-elected MLAs will be sworn in on December 7 and 8. On December 9, an election for the speaker of the newly constituted 15th assembly will be held and this will be followed by trust vote of the new Mahayuti government.

Deputy Chief Minister and NCP President Ajit Pawar earlier said that the newly elected 288 members of the 15th Assembly will take oath on December 7 and 8. At around 4:00 pm, Governor CP Radhakrishnan will address a joint sitting of both houses of the legislature. Later, both houses will be convened and a condolence motion to pay homage to departed members and tabling of the Governor's address for discussion will be on the agenda.

The discussion on the Governor's speech will be held in the winter session from December 16 to 21 in Nagpur. The sources said the agenda for holding the special session from December 7 was placed before the cabinet on December 5 after the new chief minister took oath, 13 days post the declaration of assembly election results.

The cabinet proposal will be sent to the Governor for approval. In the 288-member assembly, the ruling Mahayuti coalition, which consists of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, has an overwhelming majority with 230 seats.

Ajit Pawar to meet NCP leader during Assembly session?

Pawar said that he would meet NCP leaders during the session and after that will discuss issues relating to the cabinet berths. He indicated that the Mahayuti partners comprising BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP will also huddle over a formula for the allocation of the number of cabinet berths among the three of them and also about the distribution of portfolios. BJP has already rejected Shinde’s demand for the home department though has agreed to allot the urban development department.

Pawar said that the cabinet expansion may take place on December 11 or 12 before the winter session of the state legislature slated to begin on December 16 at Nagpur. The winter session of the state legislature will take place from December 16 to 21 while on December 15 the Chief Minister will organise a customary tea meeting with the opposition members after chairing the state cabinet.

The Mahayuti sources said that Ajit Pawar, who is expected to retain the finance and planning departments, will present the supplementary demands. It will be necessary to finance ongoing expenses and also a slew of welfare and development schemes, including Ladki Bahin Yojana worth Rs 96,000 crore announced by Ajit Pawar ahead of the state Assembly election.

Ajit Pawar had tabled the supplementary demands worth Rs 94,000 crore on July 9 after the presentation of an annual budget of Rs 6,12,293 crore for the year 2024-25. Moreover, the state government may announce the complete crop loan waiver for farmers and its roadmap to stabilise the prices of essential commodities across the state ensuring these remain affordable for the common man. These were among the 10 promises made by Mahayuti in the run-up to the Assembly election.