Senior Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Pradeep Mathur on Sunday accused the BJP of "shattering the Constitution" by forming government in Maharashtra in coalition with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction and termed the move as "extremely unfortunate".
Speaking to reporters here, Mathur, the former Congress Legislature Party leader in the UP assembly, said, "India had got freedom (from the British) at midnight and it was at the midnight that the Constitution was shattered (dhajjiyaa udaai gayee) to form the government in Maharashtra."
"This is extremely unfortunate. Ajit Pawar betrayed his uncle and put him under a question mark," he added.
Mathur also said that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had himself talked about not shaking hands with the NCP before the assembly elections but took a U-turn subsequently.
"See the breach of his (Fadnavis) words and how much do they (BJP) hanker for power. This action is like back-stabbing the democracy. The most unfortunate part is that Modiji always speaks about 'naitikta' (morality) and Amit Shah about democratic values, but they have broken their pledges. People of India are now realising their mistake of giving mandate to cheaters," Mathur told reporters.
He also emphasised upon the opposition's unity to reinstate democratic values.
Asked whether Maharashtra developments would have any impact on poll-bound Jharkhand, Mathur said, "The opposition parties will now have to become cautious of the BJP moves. The BJP can stoop to any level to sabotage democracy."
"The public is aware and alert, provided no tampering is done with EVMs. In major elections, EVMs are tampered while in a few, EVMs are left untouched so that people do not doubt their credibility."
The senior UP Congress leader also urged Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to sack Energy minister Shrikant Sharma over the "fraudulent" investment of over Rs 2,600 crore of the state power employees' provident fund in scam-hit DHFL.
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