Oath of office being taken in Sanskrit, Ahirani and Sindhi, slogans of Jai Sri Ram, Jai Maharashtra, Jai Vidarbha, Jai Khandesh and Sat Sri Akal, invocations to legendary warrior-king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Goddess Tulja Bhavani, Mahatma Gandhi and even prime minister Narendra Modi and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya.
These were some glimpses of the swearing in ceremony for newly elected legislators presided over by pro-term speaker Jiva Pandu Gavit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) at the state legislature on Monday. While most legislators took oath on the name of God and Allah (in case of Muslim MLAs), some, such as assembly's senior-most MLA and PWP leader Ganpatrao Deshmukh, outgoing chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, former ministers Chhagan Bhujbal, Ajit Pawar and Varsha Gaikwad, preferred to "solemnly affirm".
A few chose to use both, the name of God and solemn affirmation, while education minister Vinod Tawde used the names of his parents Sridhar and Vijaya while taking oath. Shiv Sena and BJP may be drifting apart, but chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and minister Sudhir Mungantiwar chose to reach out to saffron turban-wearing Sena legislators by greeting them personally after getting down from the lectern.
Mungantiwar and Sanjay Rathod (Sena) removed their chappals before taking oath, while Raj Purohit (BJP) walked to the lectern without his footwear. Veteran BJP MLAs Girish Mahajan, Girish Bapat and its tribal face and tribal development minister Vishnu Sawra took oath in Sanskrit, while another party legislator Jaykumar Rawal used the Ahirani dialect spoken in Khandesh, and appended his oath with a "Jai Khandesh" slogan. NCP MLA from the Sindhi enclave of Ulhasnagar Jyoti Kalani took oath in Sindhi and gave the "Jai Jhulelal" slogan afterwards.
Non-Maharashtrian MLAs Prakash Mehta, Vidya Thakur, Mangalprabhat Lodha, Nasim Khan and Aslam Shaikh took oath in Marathi. Varsha Gaikwad appended her oath with "Jai Bhim", a salutation to Dalit icon Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, Sena legislators Dadaji Bhuse and Subhash Sabane said the party's Jai Maharashtra slogan, while Bharatseth Gogawale and Dnyaraj Chougule paid their respects to Shivaji Maharaj.
Former Congress minister Siddharam Mhetre took oath in the name of Saint Swami Samarth of Akkalkot, while Sardar Tara Singh (BJP) invoked Guru Nanak and Guru Govind Singh before saying "Bole so nihaal, Sat sri Akal". Congressman DP Sawant paid respects to former union home minister Shankarrao Chavan, while Hanmant Dolas did so for former legislator and co-operative doyen Shankarrao Mohite Patil.
Ram Kadam and Amit Zanak remembered their parents, while BJP's Govardhan Sharma used the Sangh Parivar's favourite slogan of Jai Sri Ram. Samajwadi Party's Abu Asim Azmi, who was roughed up on the floor of the House five years ago by MNS legislators for taking oath in Hindi, used the national language again, while BJP MLAs Dr Anil Bonde, Vikas Kumbhare and Sudhir Parwe chose to make a strong statement through the "Jai Vidarbha" slogan.
BJP MLA Baburao Pacharne said NaMo, NaMo to show his loyalty to Modi, while Sena's Rajesh Kshirsagar did the same for Uddhav and Aaditya. Rahul Bondre from Chikhali used the "Jai Jagat" slogan coined by Gandhian and social worker Acharya Vinoba Bhave.
A newly elected woman legislator was seen clicking photos in the House enthusiastically. The loudest claps were reserved for Ganpatrao Deshmukh, 88, who carries respect across party lines. Deshmukh had to be helped on to the lectern by staff.
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