Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched a scathing attack on rival BJP this morning over the party's dramatic comeback in Maharashtra on Saturday while the NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress were trying to cobble up an alliance in the state.
In a tweet, the 47-year-old leader accused the BJP of "disrespecting Constitution" and said what happened in Maharashtra was a deja vu moment and the party had done something similar in Karnataka. "News channels on TV are reporting that the BJP is trying to repeat the Karnataka game - defying Constitution, disrespecting institutions," she wrote in Hindi.
"Over 12,000 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra . The BJP government at that time did not help them. Have we reached the stage where we are openly disrespecting people's mandate?" Ms Gandhi further wrote.
On Saturday, BJP's Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the Maharashtra Chief Minister at a quiet oath ceremony that suddenly flashed on TV screens. NCP's Ajit Pawar, party chief Sharad Pawar's nephew, took oath as his deputy as his party denied support to him and the BJP.
Aji Pawar had attended the previous night's joint meeting of the NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress where the three parties had inched closer to forming a coalition government in the state and said Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray would be the Chief Minister.
Pawar senior, after saying on Saturday that it was his "personal decision" to support the BJP, reiterated on Sunday that his NCP will support the Congress and Sena. "There is no question of forming an alliance with @BJP4Maharashtra. NCP has unanimously decided to ally with @ShivSena & @INCMaharashtra to form the government. Shri Ajit Pawar's statement is false and misleading in order to create confusion and false perception among the people," the veteran leader's tweet read. His remarks were a response to Ajit Pawar's claims that NCP chief was on board when he decided to support the BJP.
Ms Gandhi's party has challenged the Centre over the Maharashtra government in the Supreme Court today along with the NCP and Sena, demanding an immediate floor test, as she claimed in her tweet today that the rival party had formed government in Karnataka in a similar manner.
Earlier this year, BJP's BS Yediyurappa took oath as Karnataka chief minister for the fourth time after the Speaker disqualified three of the 17 rebel lawmakers of the Congress-JDS coalition whose exits brought down the 14-month government. The Congress and the JDS had accused the BJP of foul play.