A belligerent Shiv Sena made its presence felt on the first day of a three-day special session of the Maharashtra Assembly on Monday, as its newly-elected MlAs took a green skull cap with them to hand over to senior BJP Minister Eknath Khadse in a symbolic protest against his move to introduce Urdu language in Marathi medium schools.
Talking to media persons outside the House, senior Sena leader Diwakar Raote displayed the green skull cap that he and his colleagues were planning to present to Khadse.
The Sena MlA, wearing saffron ‘phetas’ (headgears), occupied the benches meant for Opposition. The Shiv Sena, which has a strength of 63 MlAs staked a claim for the leader of the Opposition's post in the House. The Sena's move to stake a claim for the loP's post stemmed from its realisation that it would not be able to strike a power-sharing deal with the BJP ahead of the trust vote and that it would lose the post to the Congress, if it did not stake a claim for it.
Significantly, on a day when its central leadership appointed senior leader from western Maharashtra Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil as the party's group leader in the Assembly, the Congress also staked a claim for the leader of the Opposition's post.
Earlier in the day, senior-most MlA Jeeva Pandu Gavait was administered an oath as a Pro-tem Speaker by Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao at Raj Bhavan earlier on Monday morning. Subsequently, Gavit - presiding over the Assembly in his capacity as the Pro-tem Speaker - administered oath to as many as 200 newly elected MlAs during the day.