NEW DELHI: The BJP on Saturday asserted that it had the “electoral and moral” mandate to form a government in Maharashtra and brushed aside the criticism of its alliance with NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who was accused by the saffron party in the past of corruption, saying the tie-up was guided by the “given situation”.
BJP leader and 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, while the saffron party and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had won the popular mandate to form government. At a press conference here, he said the Maharashtra governor took the decision to swear-in Fadnavis and Pawar as the chief minister and the deputy chief minister after both leaders, as the heads of their respective legislative parties, gave the letters of support of their MLAs. The governor had no counter-claim by any other party or alliance, he said.
Prasad expressed confidence that the BJP-led government enjoys the support of a majority of MLAs but did not put numbers to that, saying the floor of the Assembly is the proper place for this and an “effective majority” will be proven.
Hitting back at the Congress over its allegation of “murder of democracy” against the BJP, he said wryly that if the Sena sacrifices its principles to ally with the Congress, then this is a “respect” for democracy but if the BJP works for a stable government and is supported by a big section of the NCP, then this is against it. He said leaders of the Congress as well as the NCP had said earlier that the mandate was for them to sit in opposition but they then got into “match-fixing” to grab power. Asked about the BJP allying with Ajit Pawar, he said a decision was taken “given the situation” as a big state like Maharashtra needs to have a stable government. Pawar has often been accused of corruption by the BJP in the past. Prasad said the rival parties were in a conspiracy to control India’s “financial capital” (Mumbai) through back door, underlining the import of controlling power in resource-rich Maharashtra to influence national politics. (PTI)
