Devendra Fadnavis will on Friday take oath as the 27th chief minister of Maharashtra and the first from Bharatiya Janata Party in the state, at a grand function which Shiv Sena has decided to boycott because of "constant humiliation".
Sena mouthpiece Saamna on Friday confirmed that no MLA or MP from that party will attend the function at Wankhede Stadium. It also wished all the best for the new CM in his task to develop Maharashtra.
"Our MLAs have expressed that they should be treated with respect if the BJP wants them to be part of the government. If that is not happening, then no one from the Sena will attend the ceremony, not even (party chief) Uddhavji," said Sena MP Vinayak Raut.
The Sena said it has been "constantly been humiliated" by the BJP, "which has not gone down well with our MLAs".
However, the Sena has provided covering fire to Bharatiya Janata Party from criticism for organising a lavish event, saying the ceremony will “wash off sins” of the previous government.
“You (Congress and Nationalist Congress Party) have looted Maharashtra in your 15-year-rule and siphoned off thousands of crores of public money. If you are now speaking about a huge amount of money being spent on the oath-taking ceremony, it is nothing but hilarious,” the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.
Sharad Pawar’s NCP, which has already extended outside support to the BJP, had on Thursday lashed out at the saffron party for holding a mega swearing-in ceremony for Fadnavis.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik had tweeted: “A party with a difference, hence the most lavish oath-taking ceremony in the history of Maharashtra government formation.”
Earlier, the Congress had on Wednesday accused the BJP of compromising the dignity of the swearing-in ceremony and said the saffron party has turned the event into a festival.
“The decorum and seriousness of the swearing-in has been lost,” Congress spokesman Anant Gadgil had said.
However, the Sena described the oath-taking ceremony as being held to wash away “sins of the previous government.”
“Maharashtra is saddled with a debt of Rs 3.5 lakh crore. Why this huge debt? The debt is the result of the (Congress-NCP) coalition government of the last 15 years. Today’s ceremony is to wash off the sins committed by them. Organising this ceremony will incur some costs. Since it marks the end of the ego and corruption of the previous government, people will not mind the cost,” it said.
