As Bharatiya Janata Party formed the government in alliance with Ajit Pawar of the NCP, senior BJP leader and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad hit out at the Congress-NCP and the Shiv Sena, saying those who were ‘dead opposed’ to each other joined hands to ‘grab’ power, despite the BJP winning the popular mandate to form the government.
Addressing the press conference, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that before the Maharashtra assembly election, Devendra Fadnavis had been the chief ministerial candidate of an alliance between the BJP and the Shiv Sena.
Ravi Shankar Prasad added that it was BJP’s votes which had helped the Shiv Sena MLAs to secure victory. The coalition’s victory was both a moral and electoral win for the BJP, Prasad added.
On Saturday, following the formation of a coalition government between the BJP and a faction of NCP MLAs led by Ajit Pawar, Prasad asserted that it had the “electoral and moral” mandate to form government in Maharashtra and rejected criticism, saying the tie-up was guided by current circumstances.
Attacking the Shiv Sena-Congress alliance, Prasad said that there was an attempt to take over the financial capital of the country through unfair means. Prasad also went on to target Shiv Sena by saying that the party had forgotten the principals of Balasaheb Thackeray.
“I don’t want to say anything about those who couldn’t stay true to Balasaheb’s ideals. Their opposition to Congress was well-known. Those who dump their entire legacy, are teaching us. Those who are willing to compromise for power, shouldn’t talk about Shivaji,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Taking a dig at the Congress, the BJP leader said that it was clear on whose ‘direction’ the Shiv Sena became ‘hostile’. “Those who compromise in pursuit of power should not talk about Chhatrapati Shivaji,” the Telecom Minister said.
In a massive political development on Saturday morning, BJP and some NCP MLAs led by Ajit Pawar came together to form the Maharashtra government. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the CM early morning at the Raj Bhawan by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. NCP leader Ajit Pawar also took oath as the Deputy CM of the state.
The BJP and Sena, which fought the Assembly polls in the alliance, had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats, respectively, in the 288-member Assembly. The Congress and the NCP, pre-poll allies, had won 44 and 54 seats respectively.