A day after the Maharashtra cabinet enlargement, the Shiv Sena charged that giving ministerial oaths to rebellious MLAs—whose disqualification petitions are currently before the Supreme Court—amounted to the murder of democracy and the Constitution.
The rebels have took a plunge in the Ganga river after finally taking the government oath. The Sena outlet “Saamana” published an editorial on Wednesday that questioned whether they would be able to “cleanse the sin of betrayal.”
The Marathi newspaper also criticised Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for visiting the national capital before to the cabinet expansion and “bowing” seven times before Delhi.
The CM had visited New Delhi seven times in the previous month, and on each occasion, he discussed expanding the ministry.
On Tuesday, Shinde added 18 ministers to his two-member cabinet, nine from the BJP and nine from his opposition Shiv Sena party, 41 days after taking the oath of office as the state’s chief executive.
The Saamana editorial said that it amounted to “death of democracy and the constitution” and noted that the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a number of disqualification applications against various Shinde-camp parliamentarians on Thursday.
The party also made fun of Governor BS Koshyari, who on Tuesday at Raj Bhavan swore in the new cabinet.
The Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut wrote an editorial in the mouthpiece disputing the idea that the “pleasure of the nine ministers who defected to the Eknath Shinde camp will be short-lived.”
The spokesperson added that the Maharashtrian people will “never forgive” the “defectors” for their “treachery.” The state administration hasn’t yet responded to the development.
