As Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar’s rebellion led to a new twist in Maharashtra politics, Congress’ Jairam Ramesh slammed the BJP for kickstarting its ‘washing machine’. Attacking the NCP workers who switched to the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government on Sunday, Ramesh said the ‘corrupt’ leaders jumped ship to escape the pressure from investigating agencies. He added that Congress will work towards removing BJP from power in Maharashtra.
Follow NCP Crisis LIVE updates
The Congress general secretary tweeted, “It is clear that BJP's washing machine has resumed its work. Many of the leaders who joined the BJP-led coalition in Maharashtra today faced serious corruption charges. ED, CBI and Income Tax officials were after them. Now all of them have got clean chit. Congress will intensify its efforts to free Maharashtra from the clutches of BJP.”
Read: Sharad Pawar says Ajit's rebellion individual decision; 'Happy that PM Modi...'
Ajit, who split the NCP and took oath as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, said his party decided to become part of the Shinde-led government for the development of the country and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. Eight other NCP leaders took oath as ministers.
{{/usCountry}}Ajit, who split the NCP and took oath as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, said his party decided to become part of the Shinde-led government for the development of the country and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. Eight other NCP leaders took oath as ministers.
{{/usCountry}}The Congress is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance comprising itself, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) and the NCP.
Several opposition leaders reacted to the surprise development on Sunday.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday took a swipe at Modi and said that probably this is "the mother of democracy" that the PM talked about in his address to the US Congress.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday hit out at the BJP and said, “BJP does this from time to time, first they did this in Madhya Pradesh, and then in Maharashtra, but people are watching this.”
AAP national spokesperson Sanjay Singh also criticised the defection and called PM Modi the ‘biggest patron of corruption in the country’.
(With inputs from PTI)