“Democracy is murdered”: Maharashtra opposition MPs skip oath-taking ceremony | News from India

NEW DELHI: Leaders of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) boycotted the oath-taking ceremony on the first day of the special session of the Maharashtra assembly. Speaking about the opposition’s decision to skip the event, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray expressed doubts over the misuse of EVMs in the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Speaking to reporters, Thackeray said his party had “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 elections.
“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 the EVM,” he added.
Thackeray further said that his party had boycotted the oath-taking ceremony as “democracy is being murdered through the use of EVMs”. “This (Maharashtra Assembly election results) is not the mandate of the public, but the mandate of the EVM and the Election Commission of India,” he added.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar responded to the opposition’s decision not to take oath today, saying, ‘There is no point in making such allegations here. They (the opposition) should approach the Election Commission and if they do not get justice there, they should approach the court.
At the opening 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 the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Earlier in the day, Fadnavis, Shinde and Pawar paid homage to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, at the Vidhan Bhavan complex in Mumbai, on the first day of the Special Assembly session.
Aaditya Thackeray and several members of the Shiv Sena UBT party also marked their presence at the event.