Mumbai, July 31 (IANS) Congress leader Sanjay Dutt, who was sworn-in as a new member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council Tuesday, created a flutter when he uttered a slogan in party chief Sonia Gandhi’s favour after taking the oath.
He was among the 11 members of different political parties who were administered the oath by Council Chairman Shivajirao Deshmukh Tuesday.
After taking the oath, Dutt said: “Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra and Jai Sonia Gandhi,” taking the gathering by surprise.
“This was not planned. It is my complete faith in Madam Soniaji’s leadership as an ordinary soldier of the Congress party that the words just came out spontaneously,” Dutt told IANS after the ceremony.
He said that all party workers at all levels have immense faith in the Congress president. “So what is wrong if we express our affection for her?”
Besides Dutt, others who took oath included state Congress chief Manikrao Thakre and Sharad Ranpise (all from Congress), and Jaidev Gaikwad, Amarsinh Pandit and Narendra Patil (all Nationalist Congress Party).
From the opposition side, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Vijay Girkar and Ashish Shelar, Peasants & Workers Party’s Jayant Patil and Shiv Sena’s Anil Parab and Vinayak Raut were also sworn-in.
