Swearing-in a first at Albert hall

The oath taking ceremony of chief minister-designate Ashok Gehlot and his deputy, Sachin Pilot, will be held against the backdrop of the majestic Albert hall. This will be for the first time that a new government would be sworn-in at the Albert Hall. 

Sources inform that decision regarding the venue was taken after a meeting held at the residence of chief minister designate Ashok Gehlot in which the senior bureaucrats and party officials were present.

The decision was taken after the highcourt gave permission to the government to hold the ceremony at Janpath, albeit with some conditions. It has, however, given an option that the ceremony could be conducted at the Amrudon ka Bagh which is off-limits for public events.

Preparations have been started by government departments on a war-footing at the Albert Hall since late evening. It will be a big task for PWD and other departments to prepare for the ceremony at such a short notice. This will be a historic oath taking ceremony and congress president Rahul Gandhi is expected to be a witness the event.

Hence, the officials are not taking any chances and are making elaborate plans for the formal ceremony. Supporters of both Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot will be coming to Jaipur to witness this grand event. Large number of Congress workers are expected to arrive in Jaipur.

On previous two occasions, Gehlot had taken oath at ceremonies held at the Rajbhawan. However, till Saturday evening, the matter was being heard in the court where the government pleaded for permission to hold the ceremony at Janpath. 

Notably, the High Court had a few months back, banned all such public functions and political events at Amrudon ka Bagh and nearby places after the teachers felicitation programme, which was held on September 5, led to massive inconvenience to the public.

In a suo-moto decision, the division bench of justices Manish Bhandari and DC Somani had issued notices to the government and the police directing them to stop organising public programmes at the Ambedkar Circle, including the Amrudon Ka Bagh. 

The trend of celebrations at the Janpath was started by the former chief minister Vasundhara Raje government when she took oath on the assembly premises in front of a swell crowd. Visitors were then seated along the Janpath that leads to the Vidhan Sabha where an entire battery of BJP leaders, including Narendra Modi and outgoing chief minister Ashok Gehlot was also in attendance.