Saturday, 23 November 2019

Twist in Maharashtra tale: 'Political surgical strike', says Shiv Sena; 'black chapter' in history, claims Congress

Maharashtra woke up to a tectonic shift in the month-long political standoff on Saturday with BJP's Devendra Fadnavis returning as chief minister for a second consecutive term, while Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar was given the post of deputy chief minister.

The unexpected turn of events, which culminated in Fadnavis being sworn in at Raj Bhavan around 7.30 am,  left ministers from the Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena on the back foot. The Shiv Sena lashed out at Ajit, claiming he was "blackmailed" into joining hands with the BJP.

Accusing the BJP of acting like "thieves", firebrand Sena leader Sanjay Raut alleged that Ajit "kidnapped" NCP MLAs. "Of the 8 MLAs who had gone with Ajit, five have come back. They were lied to, put in a car, and sort of kidnapped."

"I have no comments on what Ajit has said, but what he has done is for everyone to see. He has backstabbed people of Maharashtra and NCP chief Sharad Pawar. He has committed a sin," Raut added.

He also mentioned that the Sena was in constant touch with the NCP supremo and said Sharad had no participation in this "murky" deal.

Sharad claimed Saturday that his nephew Ajit's decision to back the BJP was a "personal choice" and not endorsed by the NCP.

Taking a swipe at the BJP for forming an alliance with Ajit, Sharad said, "NCP can never join hands with the BJP. I am told that 10 to 11 MLAs have gone along with Ajit Pawar and joined hands with the BJP."

"I faced a similar situation in the 80s. Only six legislators were left with me. In the next election, I managed to ensure the defeat of all those who left me. We will form the government. We have the numbers to form the government. Not aware as to what happened. Till yesterday, we were together. We never expected such behaviour from our colleagues," Sharad, addressing the joint presser with Uddhav Thackeray at YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai, said.

In response to Saturday's political development, the Sena chief had a message for the BJP too: "Let them try and break Shiv Sena MLAs. Maharashtra will not stay asleep."

Describing the unfolding events as a "political surgical strike", Thackeray said the BJP disrespected the Constitution of India and the mandate of the people.

"This is not just in Maharashtra. The BJP is doing this all over the country. They are forming governments with people like Dushyant Chautala, who they were against earlier. The BJP must go back and introspect. They should see what ideals Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj stood for," said Thackeray.

Insisting that the NCP has the numbers, party spokesperson Nawab Malik said that the government formation was deceitful and BJP will lose the floor test.

Malik was quoted by ANI as saying, "The NCP took signatures from MLAs for attendance, and it was misused for oath-taking."

Former Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam, who warned his party against forming an alliance with the Shiv Sena, said he is grieved by the recent development.

"People might be thinking I'd be happy with today’s developments. Congress has been unnecessarily defamed and thinking of alliance with Shiv Sena was a mistake," he said, adding, "I appeal to Sonia Gandhiji to dissolve Congress Working Committee."

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh accused Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari of violating the Constitution. "This is making a mockery of the Constitution. TJP did the same in Goa, Meghalaya and other states," he told ANI.

Click here to follow LIVE Updates on Maharashtra government formation 

Digvijaya further claimed that Ajit was the only NCP MLA who could have supported the coalition. "No MLA of the NCP will support this, Ajit has gone with them alone," said the senior Congress leader.

At a Congress media press conference, Ahmed Patel slammed the BJP for its "foul play".

"All the three (Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena) parties are together in this and I am confident we will defeat BJP in the trust vote. All Congress MLAs are present here except two who are right now in their village, but they too are with us," said Patel.

Asserting that the matter will taken up on the political and legal fronts, the senior Congress leader said, "Without any 'band, baaja, baarat', this incident has been scripted in black ink in the history of Maharashtra. Without any confirmation, a leader goes to the governor with a list of signatures. I can sense that something is wrong somewhere. They have made a joke of the Indian Constitution."

Expressing astonishment, Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi said that the tripartite negotiations took too long, while the "window was grabbed by fast movers."

Contending that the BJP threatened Ajit, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "Twenty-third November shall go down in the history of India as a black chapter when an illegitimate government was constituted by a governor acting as a hitman on Constitution of India at the insistence of a home minister who considers the Constitution his captive instrument."

BJP leaders congratulate Fadnavis

Soon after Fadnavis was sworn in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other prominent BJP leaders sent congratulatory tweets:

 

'Ashamed at language used by Shiv Sena'

 

Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday said the Shiv Sena betrayed the people of the state by deciding to go with the Congress, which was "synonymous with corruption". He also said that despite the Congress being against the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Sena decided to join hands with it.

Acknowledging the victory of both Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said "under the leadership of Fadnavis and Pawar, the chariot of Maharashtra's development will move ahead rapidly."

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar also lauded Fadnavis and Pawar and said the state will touch new heights of development under the leadership of Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.

Briefing the media, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said that Fadnavis had the people's mandate. He also claimed that during his five years as chief minister, Fadnavis ran a clean government.

He further said that the support base of BJP and the prospect of Fadnavis becoming chief minister played a crucial role in the success of Shiv Sena candidates.

"We are ashamed at the language used by the Shiv Sena for the prime minister and the home minister in their editorial mouthpiece Saamana," Prasad said. "It is shameful and a new low for their party. We will not stoop to that level. We will make no comments about their leaders."

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said it was the prerogative of the governor to invite Fadnavis to form government. "At this point of time in this programme, I do not wish to make any political statement," Rajnath said at an event in Lucknow, according to PTI.

On Saturday morning, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath to Fadnavis and Ajit at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai around 7.30 am.

The oath-taking was held soon after the President's Rule, which was imposed on 12 November, was revoked. President Ram Nath Kovind signed the proclamation for revocation of the Central rule and a gazette notification to this effect was issued at 5.47 am.

The swearing-in ceremony came just hours after Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray emerged as the Sena-NCP-Congress' consensus candidate for the top post.

Blaming the Shiv Sena for disrespecting the people's mandate in October Assembly polls, Fadnavis said, "People had given us a clear mandate, but Shiv Sena tried to ally with other parties after the results, after which the President's Rule was imposed. Maharashtra needed a stable government, not a 'khichdi' government."

Ajit backed the BJP and with the support of Independent lawmakers and smaller parties, the saffron party decided to stake claim to form the government, he added.

After being sworn-in as the deputy chief minister, Ajit said, "From the day the (poll) results were declared on 24 October, no party was able to form the government. Maharashtra was facing many problems, including farmers' issues. So we decided to form a stable government."

The BJP and the Sena, which fought the Assembly polls in an alliance, had secured a comfortable win by winning 105 and 56 seats respectively in the 288-member House. The Sena broke its three-decad ealliance with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister's post on a rotational basis. The Congress and the NCP, pre-poll allies, won 44 and 54 seats respectively.



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