Sena accuses Ajit Pawar of cheating Shivaji Maharaj and Maharashtra, calls him "backstabber"

Mumbai, Nov 23: Asserting that veteran leader Sharad Pawar was unaware of the overnight political developments which paved way for Devendra Fadnavis to take oath as the Maharashtra Chief Minister for the second time, Shiv Sena on Saturday said that Ajit Pawar "backstabbed the people" the people of the state.

In a surprising development on Friday evening, the BJP and the NCP joined hands to form the government in Maharashtra. Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as Chief Minister, while Ajit Pawar took over as the deputy chief minister.

This sudden development left everyone shocked as the NCP was in talks with the Congress and Shiv Sena to form a post-poll alliance.

"Ajit Pawar was with us yesterday. His body language was suspicious. He then stepped out and his phone was switched off. We were told he was with his lawyer. In this case, Sharad Pawar is not involved. Had realised his intent when he had resigned as MLA before elections. He has stabbed the people of Maharashtra in the back and betrayed Sharad Pawar," Raut said.

People of Maharashtra have been cheated. It was about trust of Maharashtra..you have used your money power to your advantage, Raut added.

Initially, it was not clearly known whether Ajit Pawar joined hands with the BJP with Sharad Pawar's assent or not. Later, Sharad Pawar took to Twitter and said that 'Ajit Pawar's decision to support the BJP is his personal decision'.

"Ajit Pawar's decision to support the BJP to form the Maharashtra Government is his personal decision and not that of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
We place on record that we do not support or endorse this decision of his," Sharad Pawar said.

Union Minister Amit Shah congratulates Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and deputy CM Ajit Pawar. "I am confident that this government will continue working for the growth and development," Amit Shah said in a tweet.

After being sworn in as the deputy CM, Ajit Pawar said that he decided to take this call as the talks between the NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena were never-ending. There was a need to give Maharashtra a stable government, said Ajit Pawar, who is Sharad Pawar's nephew. It may be recalled that Sharad Pawar had met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 40 minutes last week. Pawar had said that he was meeting with the PM to discuss the farmer issue in Maharashtra.

The BJP has 105 seats, while the NCP has 54. In the 288 member assembly, the magic mark is 245 and both the parties are comfortably ahead of the mark. The Shiv Sena and the Congress, on the other hand, have 56 and 44 seats each.