Maharashtra: Constitution Disregarded, BJP Repeating Karnataka Game, Says Priyanka Gandhi

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday accused the BJP of disregarding the Constitution in Maharashtra and repeating the “game” it played in Karnataka. “TV is showing that the BJP is disregarding institutions and Constitution in Maharashtra to repeat the game it played in Karnataka,” Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi. The Congress general secretary said, “12,000 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra. For them, no help came from the BJP government’s pocket.”

“Have we reached the stage of open kidnapping of the mandate?” she said.

In a dramatic turn of events in Maharashtra, President's Rule was lifted on Saturday morning, following which Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in as chief minister and deputy chief minister, respectively, by the governor.

The development came hours after the new alliance of Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress arrived at a consensus that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will be their chief ministerial candidate. 

The brewing political drama in Maharashtra has reached at the doorstep of the Supreme Court with Centre being asked to produce the letter of the Governor inviting Devendra Fadnavis and also the letters of support used by the Bharatiya Janata Party leader staking his claim. The top court has asked the Solicitor General to produce the letters at 10.30 am for passing orders. A bench headed by Justice NV Ramana and comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and Sanjeev Khanna will decide on taking the requests in the petition of Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena on immediate floor test after examining the letters.

All eyes are now on which way 13 Independents and 16 MLAs from smaller parties will swing in the quest to achieve the 145-mark in the 288-member House in floor test. The Shiv Sena, which is in talks with the Congress-NCP to form a government sans one-time ally BJP, claims to have the support of seven MLAs apart from its own flock of 56.