176 of total 182 newly elected MLAs take oath as member of Gujarat Assembly

Gandhinagar:

A total of 176 newly elected MLAs of Gujarat including CM Vijay Rupani, Dy CM Nitin Patel, leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani and other elected members of 14 th Gujarat Assembly today took oath as member of the house.

Assembly secretary D M Patel said that 3 MLAs of BJP including Ministers of State Vibhawariben Dave and Parshottam Solanki and Jagdish Panchal and as many of Congress (Gayasuddin Shaikh, Mahesh Patel and Ashwin Kotwal) remained absent today and could not take oath.

A BJP leader said that Vibhawariben was in London while Solanki had a family event today while Panchal was out of state.

Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said that Shaikh was in Mecca while Mahesh Patel and Ashwin Kotwal were busy owing to some social work.

The Assembly secretary however said that the remaining MLAs can take oath any day.

Protem Speaker and senior BJP MLA from Bhuj Nimaben Acharya who was earlier administered oath by governor O P Kohli at Rajbhavan here later conducted the swearing in of the MLAs in makeshift assembly of Sabarmati hall of new secretariat ie Swarnim Sannkul 1.

All the MLAs took oath one by one. With this they have become eligible for salary and other allowances from today.

Nimaben, first administered oath to CM, Dy CM and then to cabinet ministers and leader of opposition (who was also equivalent to cabinet rank minister) and then to Ministers of State and other members.

The election for 14 th assembly was held in two phases on December 9 and 14 this year and counting was held on December 18. In the 182 member assembly BJP won 99 seats, Congress 77, Bhartiya Tribal Party 2, NCP 1 and independents 3.

The independent MLA from Morwa Hadaf Bhupendra Khant, who was in a controversy over the said cancellation of his caste certificate also took oath as MLA today.

DeshGujarat