by our special correspondent–
First BJP , then Siv Sena with Congress and now NCP with BJP form Maharastra government which indicates no value politics exists in powerplay , be it municipality or state .
Defending Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari after questions were raised over Raj Bhawan’s role in Saturday’s early morning swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra CM and NCP’s Ajit Pawar as his deputy, the Bharatiya Janata Party said that the Governor was just doing his duty. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad hit back at Shiv Sena, saying the Uddhav Thackeray-led party won because of the BJP.
There was a conspiracy to control Maharashtra through back door, Prasad said referring to Sena, NCP, Congress alliance.Earlier, Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar on Saturday nephew Ajit Pawar of hoodwinking party MLAs to accompany him to Raj Bhawan where he took oath as Maharashtra deputy CM in a dramatic turn of events.
Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the CM in an early morning ceremony. Addressing a joint press conference with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai, Sharad Pawar said NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena had the numbers to form government and that the party wants a government under Sena’s leadership.
“What Ajit has done is against NCP ideology,” Sharad Pawar said.At least 9 NCP MLAs backing Ajit Pawar-Devendra Fadnavis alliance are currently on their way to New Delhi on a chartered flight,on saturday afternoon. MLAs include Anil Patil, Dilip Bankar, Babasaheb Patil.
Uddhav Thackeray described the developments as ‘political surgical strike’ conducted by the BJP. The Sene chief slammed the former ally and said that it has disrespected the constitution and mandate of people of Maharashtra.
The BJP has crossed all limits of shamelessness, Congress leader Ahmed Patel said, adding that his party is contemplating to challenge Fadnavis’ oath-taking legally.
As events took a sudden dramatic turn in Maharashtra on Saturday with a faction of NCP led by Ajit Pawar joined hands with BJP and with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis taking oath as chief minister, Congress is now planning to move its MLAs out of the state.
“Congress is planning to move its MLAs out of Maharashtra. They will be moved to a Congress-ruled state,” Congress party source said on Saturday. According to multiple reports, these MLAs are likely to be moved to Jaipur.
Earlier in the day, Congress leader Ahmed Patel termed Ajit Pawar’s support to BJP to form the government in Maharashtra as a “black spot” in the history of the state, stating that nothing can be more “shameful” than this NCP and BJP joint .
Addressing a joint press conference in Mumbai, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said that his nephew Ajit’s decision is act of indiscipline, and no NCP worker is in favour of NCP-BJP govt. “An honest NCP worker can never be a part of BJP government formation,” he said, adding that around 11 MLAs along with Ajit joined hands with BJP.
However, four-time NCP MLA Rajendra Shingane said that they were “misled”. Pawar further said that they can’t rule out a possibility of “cheating by governor”. Ajit Pawar may have submitted ‘ready-made’ list of NCP MLAs, he added.
Senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar has claimed that Ajit Pawar gave letter of support on behalf of all 54 NCP MLAs. He said that they do not need separate letter from each legislator. “Letter from Leader of Legislative Party is considered the letter of the party,” he told News18. Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule has put up a status on WhatsApp, saying there is “split in the party and family”.
