‘Democracy being murdered’: Maharashtra opposition MLAs skip oath-taking ceremony | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Leaders of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have boycotted the oath-taking ceremony on the first day of the Maharashtra assembly special session. Talking about the opposition’s decision to skip the event, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray expressed doubts about the misuse of EVMs during the Maharashtra assembly election.
Talking to reporters, Thackeray said that his party has “decided that our winning MLAs will not take oath” on the first day of the Maharashtra assembly session to protest the misuse of EVMs during the election.
“If this was the mandate of the people, people would have been happy and celebrated it, but people did not celebrate this victory anywhere. We have doubts about EVM,” he added.
Thackeray further said that his party has boycotted the oath-taking ceremony as “democracy is being murdered by the use of EVMs.” “This (the results of the Maharashtra Assembly elections) is not the mandate of the public it is the mandate of EVM and the Election Commission of India,” he added.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar responded to opposition’s decision – not to take oath today, saying, “There is no point in making such allegations here. They (opposition) should go to the Election Commission and if they do not get justice there, they should approach the court.”
On the commencement of the Lower House of the state legislature, which began at 11 am, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took oath as members of Maharashtra legislative assembly.
Earlier today, Fadnavis along with Shinde and Pawar paid tribute to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, at the Vidhan Bhavan complex in Mumbai on the first day of the special assembly session.
Aaditya Thackeray and several Shiv Sena UBT party workers also marked their presence during the event.