Patna, July 2: The JD(U) on Sunday while squarely blaming the BJP for the crossover of Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction in Maharashtra, said the move will have no impact on opposition unity nationally.
Dubbing the episode as “cowardly and shameful”, JD(U) chief spokesperson and special advisor K C Tyagi maintained the development in Maharashtra smacked of “fear” instilled by the party’s supreme leader, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, into the BJP by uniting the opposition.
Tyagi also alleged that the MLAs of NCP, who have sided with Ajit Pawar, were “intimidated through misuse of central investigating agencies”, but insisted the development in the western state will have no impact nationally.
“It is an immoral defection. Cowardly and shameful on part of the ruling party (BJP), which till recently used to berate NCP by describing it as a Naturally Corrupt Party,” he told PTI over phone.
“At the meeting hosted in Patna last week by our supreme leader Nitish Kumar, concerns over misuse of CBI, ED and other central investigating agencies were flagged. Fear of these agencies may have been used in getting NCP MLAs to cross over,” Tyagi said.
He, however, maintained the BJP cannot defeat a united opposition so, “out of fear”, it is trying to break opposition unity through “short-cuts involving misuse of agencies” and causing splits in parties.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar, accompanied by daughter and the party’s working president Supriya Sule, had visited Patna on June 23 to attend the meeting of opposition parties.
Pawar’s nephew Ajit joined the Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra earlier in the day, in a stunning move, which becomes all the more intriguing with the claim of the latter, who has become a deputy CM, that there was “no split” in the NCP, and he and his camp followers will contest elections on the party symbol.
CPI national secretary Atul Anjaan, whose party supports the government in Bihar from outside, also lashed out at the BJP for “poaching” the Maharashtra party, which was a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, other constituents being the Congress and the Shiv Sena.
“The poaching of NCP MLAs in Maharashtra is a reflection on the BJP’s desperation to attain and retain power. Today is the worst day in the history of the country’s parliamentary democracy,” Anjaan told PTI.
“All those who believe in the constitution and democracy should come forward and condemn this act of BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They must ensure that the BJP gets a befitting reply in the coming assembly elections and the Lok Sabha polls next year,” the CPI leader added.
The RJD, the largest partner in the ‘Mahagathbandhan’, also blamed the Maharashtra development on “fear of opposition unity” and “intimidation” through central agencies.
RJD national vice-president Shivanand Tiwary came out with a statement underscoring that Hasan Mushrif, one of the NCP MLAs who took oath besides Ajit Pawar as ministers, owned a sugar mill, which was recently raided by the ED.
Tiwary also said the action of Ajit Pawar, who had “made an abortive, early morning bid to form a government with BJP a few years ago”, was not surprising.
The RJD leader expressed bewilderment over the presence at the swearing in ceremony of Praful Patel, whom Sharad Pawar had recently elevated as a working president of the NCP.
“We hear that Patel may be inducted as a minister in the Centre”, said Tiwary, who was also of the view that BJP’s “anxiety” (bechaini) over opposition unity might lead it to “engineer more such fissions in parties opposed to it”.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and former Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi also attributed the Maharashtra cataclysm to the opposition meeting in Patna, but with his own spin.
“At the June 23 meeting, there were attempts to project Rahul Gandhi as the face of the opposition. This has led to tremors in the parties that took part in that meeting. We may see similar developments in JD(U) and RJD as well,” said the Rajya Sabha MP.
However, angry workers in south Mumbai smeared black paint on all the ‘defectors’ who left the party on Sunday on a huge poster which had pictures of several top NCP leaders. (Agencies)
