MH-SHINDE-OATH

Eknath Shinde defends invocation of late Dighe's name at oath
    Thane, Dec 2(PTI) Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on
Monday defended taking oath as a minister in the party-led
Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government by invoking late
saffron leader Anand Dighe.
    Speaking at a function, Shinde, who represents
Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency in the city, dared anyone to
approach court against his oath.
    "I had taken the name of 'Dharmaveer' Anand Dighe
while taking oath as a minister on November 28. If some people
are approaching supreme court against this, let them do that.
If asked to swear in again, I will invoke Dighe's name," he
said.
    Dighe was the Thane district unit chief of the Sena
who wielded a massive clout till his death in 2001.
    Shinde was third leader from his party who took oath
after party president and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray
last Thursday.
    Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil had said the
swearing-in of the Uddhav Thackeray ministry was illegal as it
went beyond the prescribed format.
    Ministers while taking oath included names of their
leaders and other figures which is not as per protocol, Patil
had said.
    While Uddhav had invoked names of his late parents--
Balasaheb and Meenatai, leaders of the Congress and NCP
referred to their respective party presidents. PTI COR
NSK NSK

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)