Opposition leaders retaliated against the BJP by accusing it of engaging in “washing machine politics” after Ajit Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) took oath as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, essentially precipitating a split in the party.
In a bid to unite the Opposition in advance of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the Shiv Sena and NCP have divided. In the second part of next year, Maharashtra is expected to hold elections for its legislative body.
opposition supports The opposition figures that called Sharad Pawar and extended their support to him included Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister Sonia Gandhi, and Sharad Pawar Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.
“The BJP’s dirty tricks department is working on overdrive in Maharashtra,” claimed K C Venugopal, the general secretary in charge of the organisation for the Congress. This is a power grab supported by ED rather than a genuinely elected administration. The Maharashtra government is the result of sin and corruption. The next elections will serve as a lesson for all the corrupt, compromised, and traitorous politicians of Maharashtra that the people have so clearly identified.
The “washing machine politics” of the BJP was described by opposition politicians. “Clearly the BJP’s Washing Machine has resumed its operations,” declared Jairam Ramesh, chairman of the Congress’ communication department. Several new members of the BJP-led coalition in Maharashtra today were being investigated by the ED, CBI, and Income Tax departments on serious corruption charges. Now, everyone has a clean slate.
He added that the Congress would step up its efforts to “liberate Maharashtra from the BJP’s grasp.”
While acknowledging that the NCP split was a setback, JD (U) leader K C Tyagi questioned what example of good governance the ruling party was seeking to set by appointing Ajit Pawar as deputy chief minister despite the fact that it has launched an investigation into him. Additionally, it had referred to the NCP throughout the elections as a “Naturally Corrupt Party.” Therefore, carry out raids first, then dispatch the Income Tax, ED, and CBI, and then add them to your coalition. Therefore, you want to achieve a majority by manoeuvring rather than elections, he explained.
The NCP MLAs who have supported Ajit Pawar, according to Tyagi, were “intimidated through misuse of central investigating agencies,” but he assured the development in the western state will not have any national repercussions.
Akhilesh Yadav, the leader of the Samajwadi Party, claimed that the BJP has carried out similar “experiments” in Madhya Pradesh.
“Madhya Pradesh was the BJP’s initial testing ground… For the BJP, Maharashtra has expanded into a far larger testing ground. The BJP will conduct a variety of experiments as the Lok Sabha elections draw near because it does not want to lose control. Even though the poor, farmers, underprivileged, exploited, and backward Bahujan cannot find a position anywhere, they still seek a seat in power, he said.
Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, also backed Sharad Pawar. When criticising the prime minister for his handling of corruption, he remarked, “Today you have included those whom they used to term corrupt, used to raid CBI/ED on them? Do you feel humiliated, Mr. Prime Minister? Therefore, the Prime Minister means that he will include everyone in his party when he declares, “I will not spare a single corrupt person.”
BJP seeks to divide the opposition
In contrast, the BJP attacked attempts by the opposition parties to unite before the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. “PDA- Poora (completely) Disturbed Alliance?” Shehzad Poonawalla, the national spokesman for the BJP, tweeted on Sunday.
From Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Bihar, those who are unable to keep their parties and leaders together are attempting to create an opposition alliance. Poonawalla charged, adding, “Gehlot, Pilot, DKS, Siddaramaiah, Manjhi…first unite them!”
After taking the oath of office, Ajit Pawar lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and stated that his party joined the Eknath Shinde-led administration because it was in the best interests of the state and the nation.
