Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) in the opposition camp boycotted the tea party organized by the Maharashtra government on Sunday on the eve of the monsoon session of the assembly. Monsoon session is starting from Monday. The program was attended by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other cabinet colleagues. Among them were the newly appointed Deputy Chief Minister of NCP Ajit Pawar and ministers of his camp.
Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Ambadas Danve organized a meeting which was attended by Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat and NCP leader Jayant Patil. It may be noted that the post of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly is lying vacant after NCP leader Ajit Pawar joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government as Deputy Chief Minister recently. Eight other MLAs from Ajit Pawar’s camp have also taken oath as ministers.
“We have decided to boycott the state government’s invitation to join the Tea Party as it has failed to solve people’s problems on many fronts,” Danve told reporters. The legitimacy of this government on constitutional norms is already in question.” He alleged that the government seems to have adopted a policy of “misusing” investigative agencies to pressurize the opposition to join the government. Get involved or face false accusations and harassment.
