10 Maharashtra MLCs take oath, Zeeshan in English

Chaitanya.Marpakwar

Mumbai: Ten newly elected MLCs, including six from the BJP, took oath on Thursday at the Vidhan Bhavan. Last week, all 10 candidates in the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) polls, including Shiv Sena’s Neelam Gorhe, Sena UBT’s former Leader of Opposition Ambadas Danve and former minister Bacchu Kadu, were elected unopposed. BJP won six seats, while the Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) garnered one as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). One of the seats fell vacant due to mid-term resignation by a sitting member, while others were to on account of biennial elections.

NCP’s Zeeshan Siddique, who was also elected unopposed, took the oath in English. “Last time as well, I think when I contested the 2019 election, I was probably the only one who took the oath in English. I am an educated youngster, and I believe taking the oath in English is a good thing. I had taken it in English last time, too, so there is nothing much to think about in this. I did it then, and I have done it again this time as well…I feel that as we progress as a country, everyone should be able to speak English. And whether someone takes the oath in English, Hindi, Marathi, or any other language, all languages belong to us, so there is no need to think too much about it,” Siddique said.

CM Devendra Fadnavis, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, DCMs Eknath Shinde, Sunetra Pawar, Deputy Speaker Anna Bansode, Ministers Chandrakant Patil, Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Shambhuraj Desai and other dignitaries were present.