176 of 182 Gujarat MLAs take oath

Out of total 182 legislators elected in the recent assembly polls, 176 took the oath for sovereignty and unity of nation on Tuesday. Those who could not attend the oath-taking ceremony include two ministers of state level in Gujarat government and four MLAs. A three-hour-long ceremony was held at cabinet ministers’ offices complex in Gandhinagar.

Initially, governor OP Kohli administered the oath to pro tem speaker Dr Nimaben Acharya at governor’s house and then Acharya did the formality for the members of the house including CM, Deputy CM, members of the cabinet, leader of opposition and other MLAs. The entire procedure was accomplished in a hush-hush ceremony and media persons and other people were kept away.

The pro tem speaker Acharya invited all members of the house one-by-one in chronological order starting with CM Vijay Rupani, deputy CM Nitin Patel, cabinet minister and former speaker Ganpat Vasava, followed by other members of the cabinet, leader of opposition Paresh Dhanani, whips of the assembly and other elected members.

The oath-taking ceremony was completed by a special session of the assembly. As the assembly building is under renovation, the oath-taking could not be held in the house. The results of Gujarat assembly polls were declared …read more