The Shiv Sena has launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying the formation of the government in Goa is equivalent to ‘murder of democracy’ and wished ‘strength’ for our democracy to ‘handle such happenings’.
“The political chaos that were played in Goa to form the government by the BJP cannot be termed anything other than a ‘murder of democracy’. Though this is another thing that it is not the first time when such incident has taken place in Goa. Earlier also such incident has been witnessed, this is one more addition to it. We wish our democracy the strength to handle such happenings,” said an editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana.
The editorial further stated that even though the BJP was defeated in three of the five states that went to polls, none of the experts of the party is ready to speak about the results.
“Goa rejected the BJP and with 17 seats elected the Congress as the single biggest party. Whose defeat is this?” asked the editorial.
Earlier on Tuesday, former defence minister and BJP leader Manohar Parrikar took oath as the 13th Chief Minister of Goa.
Goa Governor Mridula Sinha administered the oath of office to Parrikar at the Raj Bhavan in Panaji.
In a major setback to the Congress Party, the Supreme Court had refused to stay the swearing-in of Parrikar and ordered a floor test in the state assembly that will be held today.
Parrikar quit as the defence minister of India, a post he had been holding since November 2014 after first reshuffle of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet.
At that time, he was serving his second term as the Chief Minister of Goa.
The BJP, which won 13 seats in the 40-member Goa Assembly, managed to garner support from other parties and independents to attain majority under Parrikar.
Three MLAs of the Goa Forward Party, three of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and two independents have pledged their support to Parrikar.
The Congress won 17 seats in the recently concluded polls.
