Mumbai: Maharashtra Governor B. S. Koshyari on Monday apparently lost his cool when Congress legislator K.C. Padvi was taking the oath as a Cabinet minister and ordered him to repeat it.
As he read out the oath, Padvi added a few lines beyond the written text given to him which triggered a strong reaction from the Governor.
Getting up from his seat, a visibly irritated Koshyari said loudly: “I cannot accept this. This will not be allowed. Please stick to what is written in the paper. Senior leaders Sharadji (Pawar), (Mallikarjun) Khargeji are sitting in front. If they say I am saying something wrong, I will not stop you.”
He ordered Padvi to take the oath again. Koshyari also turned aside to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and said something to him.
A seven-time MLA from Akkalkuwa, Nandurbar, the bewildered Padvi immediately complied and repeated his oath from the prepared text without indulging in further deviations.
During the first swearing-in ceremony on November 28 of the new Maha Vikas Aghadi government, some ministers had deviated from the prepared format of the oath.
The Governor had expressed his resentment and urged the government to ensure this was not repeated. Later, Thackeray sought to play down the issue saying the Governor was attempting to ensure that the oath was taken in a proper and systematic manner.
The incident created ripples at the first expansion of the Thackeray ministry when he inducted 25 Cabinet ministers and another 10 Ministers of State.
NCP’s Ajit Pawar has become the Deputy CM for a record fourth time in the ministry which also has Thackeray’s son Aditya Thackeray with Cabinet rank, three women and four Muslim ministers.
