On Thursday, Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde went off script at the ceremonial swearing-in ceremony for Maharashtra’s Chief Minister and two Deputy Chief Ministers, leaving scores of red-faced people on stage. As the Governor began the procedure, Shinde delivered a speech in praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP leader Amit Shah, and the people of Maharashtra.
During a swearing-in ceremony, one is not permitted to deviate from the official script, and there have been multiple instances where leaders have had to take the oath again due to a single slip.
“A format of oath is provided in the Third Schedule of the Constitution. One has to follow that word for word. You can neither add nor subtract anything,” constitutional expert PDT Achary tells India Today Digital.
In case of any addition or deletion to the oath, the oath is considered not taken, says Achary.
However, in this case, the governor got Shinde back to the oath format, and he was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
Just as the Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan started leading Shinde to the oath, saying “mei (I)…”, the Shiv Sena leader spoke over him and started delivering a speech.
Shinde invoked Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, referring to him as “Hindu hriday Samrat”, and then mentioned PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the crores of people of Maharashtra.
Even as he veered off the script, the leaders on the stage, which included several chief ministers and Union ministers, looked uncomfortable and puzzled.
The Governor then had to stop Shinde, and get him to restart the oath.
Though Shinde’s oath wasn’t invalid, it did not stick to the protocol.
“A swearing-in ceremony is a solemn occasion,” Achary tells India Today Digital, adding that anything said beyond the words of the oath doesn’t go on record.
BJP Chief Ministers Yogi Adityanath, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Bhajanlal Sharma, Pushkar Singh Dhami, Mohan Majhi and Nayab Singh Saini were on the stage. NDA partners and CMs Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar were also there.
Though politicians leave no stage unturned for their publicity, this speech by Eknath Shinde wasn’t suited for the occasion and left the NDA leaders, including the Prime Minister, red-faced.
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Source: India Today
