The Shiv Sena and Congress, which have been outmanoeuvred by the BJP in the formation of a government in Maharashtra, has expectedly called the move illegal and unethical.
Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, who is considered a close confidante of party interim chief Sonia Gandhi, in a tweet said: "Illegal and evil manoeuvres take place in the secrecy of midnight. Such was the shame that they had to do the swearing in hiding. This illegitimate formation will self destruct."
But such accusations are spacious, to say the least. Politics has always made for strange bedfellows and Maharashtra has been no different. Take the Shiv Sena and Congress alliance itself. Once, bitter enemies who never lost an opportunity to take jabs at each other, they had cosied up for the sake of power.
Though these two parties said they would form a common minimum programme with the NCP, they were as different as chalk and cheese. The Shiv Sena has always followed a strong Hindutva ideology while Congress has been comfortable with its secular credentials. If they could align, why not the NCP — be it a faction — and the BJP, the supporters of the new government in Maharashtra would ask.
Unlike any other state where the BJP has managed to usurp power despite a lack of a clear majority, in Maharashtra, it is unlikely to face uncomfortable questions.
