Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar has betrayed the Maharashtra voters’ mandate by forging an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, but there are no grounds to doubt NCP president Sharad Pawar, said All India Congress Committee Secretary in-charge for Tamil Nadu, Sanjay Dutt, to journalists on Saturday.
“It has come to light from Mr. Sharad Pawar’s tweet and that of senior leaders Praful Patel and Supriya Sule that it was Mr. Ajit Pawar who forged the alliance with the BJP. In doing so, Mr. Ajit Pawar had betrayed Mr. Sharad Pawar and also the Maharashtra voters.”
“The voters will not forgive or forget either Mr. Ajit Pawar's betrayal or those who instigated him – Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, who in their lust for power, had stooped low.”
It was evident that Mr. Modi had a role in the alliance because he, who had not tweeted a word when Gaja cyclone ravaged Tamil Nadu, tweeted within minutes of BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar taking oath. “This shows where Mr. Modi's priority lies,” Mr. Dutt said.
Calling the BJP-NCP coming together a “murder of democracy”, Mr. Dutt said that the Maharashtra Governor who did not even extend the courtesy of giving time to Opposition parties before recommending President’s rule in the State, had sworn-in Mr. Fadnavis and Mr. Pawar. And, in doing so, the Governor had also failed to check if the two parties enjoyed the support of enough MLAs. This would only lead to horse trading, he also said.
The Central Government withdrawing Special Protection Group cover for Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi was an act of political vendetta. “The move [withdrawal] puts in danger the lives of the leaders whose family members Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had sacrificed their lives to preserve the unity of the country,” he said. The Congress, on behalf of the people, wanted the Government to resume giving SPG cover to the three leaders.
Mr. Dutt then led a protest by Congress against the Central Government’s economic policies, which, he said, were against people’s interests. The GDP growth rate had fallen to 5% and unemployment at 9% was the highest in 45 years.
The government that had promised to create 2 crore new jobs every year was taking away jobs because of its wrong economic policies. The AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu, by being a puppet of the BJP, was also doing nothing about it.
The Union Government had promised to eradicate black money but its duplicitous rule has now been exposed in the recent electoral bonds issue, he said. Black money flowed into the BJP's coffers through electoral bonds, he also alleged
