BJP MLA Kalidas Kolambkar takes oath as pro-tem speaker

A day ahead of the special session of the newlyelected house senior BJP MLA Kalidas Kolambkar on Friday took oath as protem speaker of the Maharashtra legislative assembly reported news agency PTIThe ninetime MLA was administered the oath of office by Governor CP Radhakrishnan at the Raj Bhavan in south MumbaiKolambkar is the seniormost legislator in the new house and won from Mumbais Wadala seat in last months assembly electionsAs the protem speaker a temporary position he will administer oaths to 288 newlyelected MLAs and conduct proceedings of the assemblyKolambkar will also preside over the election of a regular speaker during the threeday special session of the 15th state assembly beginning from December 7 in MumbaiThe speakers election will be held on December 9 and it will be followed by a trust vote of the Devendra Fadnavisled Mahayuti government which was swornin on December 5Pro tem Speaker will preside over the oath ceremony of the newlyelected MLAs in the special session of the state legislature to be held in Mumbai between Saturday and Monday The session will also elect the Assemblys new Speaker On the last the day the Governor will address the legislature official sources saidChief Minister Devendra Fadnavis deputy chairperson of the legislative council Neelam Gorhe and chief secretary Sujata Saunik were present at the brief oathtaking ceremony at the Raj BhavanScripting a powerful comeback Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday evening took oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister while leaders of the BJPled Mahayuti alliance Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar were sworn in as deputy chief ministers at a grand ceremony in south Mumbais sprawling Azad MaidanImmediately after the ceremony the triumvirate drove together to Mantralaya the state secretariat also in south Mumbai where Fadnavis 54 chaired the maiden cabinet meeting of the new regime and also addressed a press conferencePrime Minister Narendra Modi several Union ministers and chief ministers of various states besides thousands of supporters of the Mahayuti alliance were present at the swearing in ceremony held almost a fortnight after the results of the state assembly elections were declared on November 23Fadnavis who has served as chief minister twice led the BJPShiv Sena government from 2014 to 2019 After the 2019 elections when the then Uddhav Thackerayled Shiv Sena broke ties with the BJP over the CM post Fadnavis was sworn in again with Ajit Pawar as his deputyHowever that government lasted only 72 hours due to Pawars failure to secure sufficient support from NCP MLAsThe BJPShiv SenaNCP Mahayuti coalition won 230 out of the 288 assembly seats in the elections held on November 20The winter session of the state legislature will be held in Nagpur from December 16 to 21With inputs from PTI