Rs 25-50 cr being offered to Maha MLAs to switch sides: Cong

Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar on Friday alleged that sums of "Rs 25 crore to Rs 50 crore" were being offered to MLAs to switch sides in Maharashtra.

He claimed Congress MLAs, too, have been contacted over the phone with such offers.

The Leader of Opposition in the outgoing assembly said the Shiv Sena has claimed one of its MLAs was offered Rs 50 crore to switch sides.

"Our MLAs are also being contacted. Attempts are being made to lure away MLAs with offers of Rs 25 to Rs 50 crore," he alleged while talking to reporters in Mumbai.

"We have told our MLAs to record such calls so that people of the state know about them," he said.

The Congress leader accused the BJP of taking politics to a new low.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party has denied allegations it was trying to wean away MLAs from other parties.

Wadettiwar denied reports that Congress MLAs are being shifted to Jaipur.

"Some (MLAs) may have gone to unwind after the hard work put in elections," he said.

Wadettiwar was speaking to reporters at his official residence ahead of a meeting of MLAs later in the day.

Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party accused the BJP of pushing the state towards President's rule and wanting to run it through Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NDA constituent's chief Amit Shah.

NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik also said the people of Maharashtra will not tolerate this "insult" of the state.

He added history shows the state doesn't bow before the "throne of Delhi".

"The BJP wants to run Maharashtra through Modi and Shah from Delhi by pushing the state towards President's rule. People will not tolerate this insultof Maharashtra. It has been a history that Maharashtra doesn't bow before the throne of Delhi. Jai Maharashtra," Malik tweeted.

The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party in the October 21 assembly polls winning 105 seats, and its ally Shiv Sena, distant second largest with 56 seats, have not staked claim to form government together or separately till now.

The two parties, which contested the election under the aegis of 'Mahayuti', are bickering over sharing chief ministerial post since October 24, when the poll results was out.

The Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress won 54 and 44 seats, respectively, in the election to the 288-member assembly where the majority mark is 145.