Based on defections, govt fell like house of cards: Oppn
NEW DELHI: The Congress and other parties on Tuesday stepped up their attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the political developments in Maharashtra, saying its government based on “defections” fell like a “house of cards”.
The BJP responded saying it had installed a government in “good faith” after being assured of Nationalist Congress Party’s support by Ajit Pawar.
The Congress asked governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari to invite its alliance with the Shiv Sena and the NCP to form the government in the state and act in good faith. It also demanded that both Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, who assured the NCP’s support to the BJP, should apologise to the people of the state and the Supreme Court order an enquiry into the role of the governor and others involved in installing the Fadnavis government.
After Fadnavis announced his resignation, the BJP said parties “rejected by people” in the assembly polls have joined hands to “steal” popular mandate. It also rejected the opposition’s criticism over its decision to form government despite lacking numbers, with its spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao saying it had done so in “good faith” after being assured of the NCP’s support by its leader Ajit Pawar.
Rao also took a swipe at his party’s former ally Shiv Sena, saying its tally might not have not reached even double digit figures without the BJP’s support but it “cynically” exploited postelection situation to sacrifice its ideology at the altar of power politics.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said “It is ironic that on the day India was celebrating its Constitution, the BJP government was busy working to destroy it... Let us pledge to uphold its values and defend it at all costs.”
In a series of tweets, Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala posed questions to PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, asking “why such a spectacle of democracy was created in Maharashtra?” “Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar should apologise to the people of Maharashtra. Their government was based on lies and defections and fell like a house of cards.” Surjewala also asked why the governor was used as a puppet and why did they hurt the stature of the President.
The Left parties also questioned the role of the governor and said the resignations of Fadnavis as CM and Ajit Pawar as his deputy were a defeat of the saffron party’s “manipulative politics”. “The least that the Governor of Maharashtra must do now is to display moral conscience and quit,” tweeted CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.