Thiruvananthapuram: Besides being the first chief minister to be sworn in for a second consecutive term, Pinarayi Vijayan scripted yet another history while taking the oath of office and secrecy on Thursday.
Pinarayi became the first leader in Kerala to take the oath as the chief minister. All other previous chief ministers had been sworn in as ministers.
The third schedule of the Indian Constitution, which has the model forms of the oath to be taken by the central and state ministers, judges and people’s representatives in Parliament and legislative assemblies, do not have a specific one for chief ministers.
The model of affirmation provided in the Constitution does not mention ‘chief minister’. Instead, it mentions only ‘minister’. Pinarayi, instead of minister, took the oath as the chief minister.
Pinarayi had taken the oath as ‘minister’ in 2016, as was the case with all other previous chief ministers. For his second innings, however, the term ‘minister’ in the oath was replaced with ‘chief minister, after consultation with the Department of Law and Raj Bhavan.
Those in the government argued that Pinarayi should take the pledge as the chief minister when the chief secretary, with the governor’s permission, invites him to take the oath of office and secrecy.
