Maharashtra government formation is 'Mockery of the Constitution,' say Shiv Sena, Cong

On Saturday, leaders from Shiv Sena and Congress lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and National Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar for forming government in Maharashtra.

The latest government formation in Maharashtra was an unexpected development which has raised eyebrows in the political circles as the Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress had been holding talks over forming the government in the state.

It was only on Friday evening that Sharad Pawar had said the new government would be led by Uddhav Thackeray.

However, on this latest and surprising development in the politics of Maharashtra, several opposition leaders came together and criticised the decision.

Veteran Congress leader Digvijay Singh called it a mockery of the constitution and said, "BJP did the same in Goa, Meghalaya and other states. No MLA of the NCP will support this, Ajit Pawar has gone with them alone".

NCP leader Nawab Malik said his party had taken signatures from MLAs for attendance, it was misused for the oath.

"This government is formed by fluke but will not able to prove any majority at the floor test of the legislative assembly, all the MLAs are with us, he said.

On the other hand, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut's said Ajit Pawar has backstabbed the people of Maharashtra and accused the BJP of misusing the Governor's office for power.

"The fact is that Ajit Pawar and the MLAs supporting him have insulted Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Maharashtra," Raut stated.

The three parties (NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress) had even prepared a draft common minimum programme (CMP) to guide the actions of the new government.

The BJP and the Sena, which fought the Maharashtra assembly polls in an alliance, had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats respectively in the 288-member House. However, the Sena broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister's post.

The Congress and the NCP, pre-poll allies, won 44 and 54 seats respectively.

Also read: MLAs signatures were misused: NCP leader Nawab Malik on Maharashtra government formation

Also read: Maharashtra govt formation: "Ajit Pawar has insulted Chhatrapati Shivaji, Maha," says Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut