Mumbai: The Maharashtra Congress on Sunday said the swearing in of Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar as deputy chief minister and eight of his colleagues as ministers in the Eknath Shinde government was “disrobing of democracy” by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole slammed the BJP for its “power hungry politics”.

“The BJP has an alliance with Ajit Pawar whose party was accused of corruption by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Patole said, adding that he wondered if the BJP was playing musical chairs in anticipation of Shinde and several of his MLAs being disqualified.

“Just the other day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Nationalist Congress Party of corruption of Rs 70,000 crore. Now, the BJP will have to answer how the same Narendra Modi and Devendra Fadnavis are sitting in power with an NCP faction,” he said.

Patole said people are aware who is making a deal with whom for power, adding that the departure of the NCP faction will not have any impact on the Congress alliance, which will return to power due to the trust of the voters.

Asserting that the Congress was the only credible party in the state, Patole asked if “Eknath Shinde’s Hindutva” can now co-exist happily with the NCP faction.

Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan told PTI Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar will have to take a decision to disqualify Shinde and 15 MLAs by August 11, failing which the Congress will move the Supreme Court.

“Today’s development is preparing the ground,” the former chief minister said.

Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat called the developments unfortunate and said people are watching them and would give a verdict against such moves in the polls.

The BJP has joined hands with an NCP faction by playing the politics of sabotage as public support is dwindling, Patole said.

“This game of musical chairs is going to destroy democracy and the Constitution. Democracy is being disrobed in Maharashtra and the power-hungry Bharatiya Janata Party has a big role to play in it,” Patole said.

He said landslide Congress victories in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh had made the BJP jittery, which knows it is also staring at defeat in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, where polls are to be held in the year end.

In Maharashtra too, the Congress is getting the support of people, which led to the BJP causing a split in the NCP despite the state government enjoying a clear majority in the House, he added.

CM Shinde used to accuse Uddhav Thackeray of abandoning Hindutva by joining hands with the Congress and NCP, but he himself was now allied with Ajit Pawar, said Patole.

Shinde will need to answer to the people about this u-turn, the Maharashtra Congress leader said.