Newly-elected Gujarat MLAs would take oath during a special two-day Assembly session to be held later this month, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said here today. Speaker of the 14th Assembly will also be elected during the session which will be first since the elections were held in December last year. The new government headed by Rupani sworn in on December 26 last year at a glittering ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP top brass. According to Rupani, MLAs delayed taking oath due to what they consider an "inauspicious" period of Makar Sankranti, which falls on January 14. "MLAs felt that oath taking should be held only after the inauspicious Makar Sankranti period comes to an end.
Thus, we have planned to call a two-day session soon after January 20," Rupani told reporters. He said the exact schedule of the session would be announced after department of Parliamentary Affairs finalises the dates. "This is a special session only for the purpose of election of Speaker and oath taking of MLAs. The Budget session will be called in February as per the schedule," the chief minister said. He said the special session might be convened at some another venue due to the ongoing renovation of the Assembly Complex in Gandhinagar. In the 182-member House, the BJP, which won the sixth straight term in the closely-contested polls, holds 99 seats, followed by the Congress (77).
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