Maharashtra Opposition boycotts Shinde government's tea party

MUMBAI:  Opposition parties in Maharashtra boycotted the tea party organised by the incumbent Eknath Shinde government on the eve of the monsoon session of the Maharashtra state assembly citing the reason that the present government is unconstitutional and they are not following the democratic procedures at all.

The Opposition called its party meeting at Vidhan Bhavan. The meeting was chaired by the Leader of Opposition and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar. As per traditions, the Opposition parties were invited to the tea party on the eve of the monsoon session of the Maharashtra state assembly. All Opposition party leaders signed a seven-page letter which was also sent to former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Ajit Pawar said that the opposition parties had decided to boycott the tea party. “The way the government came to power, it is our unanimous view that the Shinde government has not been formed according to stipulated constitutional regulations. The Supreme Court verdict on the petitions regarding it is pending. The government has been formed against all democratic values and rules.”

In its scathing attack on the incumbent government, Pawar said that lawlessness will not be tolerated in Maharashtra after a video of Eknath Shinde’s faction MLA Sanjay Bangar abusing and slapping a mid-day meal employee went viral.

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the Oppositions are like Gajani that are forgetting everything which was promised by them only. “We had invited the Opposition for a tea party but they boycotted it. When we were in Opposition, we had raised the same issues that Oppositions are raising through its letter,” he said.