Ajit Pawar purified with BJP's Ganga Jal overnight: Mir

Jammu and Kashmir Congress president G A Mir on Saturday took a jibe at the BJP over the political developments in Maharashtra and said the BJP "purified" NCP's Ajit Pawar with its "Ganga jal" overnight after levelling serious corruption allegations against him.

He also criticized the role of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and said the country is facing "constitutional crisis" under the BJP which can go to any extent to form a government.

In a dramatic turn of events, the BJP formed the government with the support of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar. BJP's Devendra Fadnavis and NCP's Ajit Pawar were sworn-in as Chief Minister and Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, respectively, Saturday morning.

"The country is watching the developments in Maharashtra and perhaps this is the first of its kind drama which was enacted to grab power by the desperate BJP. The leader (Ajit Pawar) was accused of being most corrupt by the BJP till yesterday. The BJP had purified him by its 'Ganga Jal' during the night," Mir told reporters on the sidelines of a protest march here.

Mir led the march from the Shaheedi Chowk party headquarters to Deputy Commissioner's office in the city as part of nationwide protests by the Congress against alleged economic crisis, farmers' distress and growing unemployment in the country.

The protesters submitted a memorandum addressed to President Ram Nath Kovind to protest the "murder of democracy and desecration of the Constitution" under the BJP rule, while seeking restoration of the statehood to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Expressing displeasure over the Maharashtra developments, Mir said how many MLAs support Ajit Pawar is yet to be established but the role played by the governor is "unconstitutional".

"On the one hand, the governor is seeking assurance from the major parties that they have numbers to form the government and on the other he is administering oath just after getting a fake piece of paper (form NCP leader claiming support of the MLAs)," he said.

Mir said the Congress, the Shiv Sena and the NCP took signatures of their respective legislators to stake claim to form the government on Saturday.

"Ajit Pawar had not taken the signatures separately to be part of the BJP-led government. The governor did not ask him when he held a meeting with his party legislators and sought their support," he said.

"In other places, the governor is seeking parade of the MLAs instead of honoring their signatures and in Maharashtra, the oath was administered by entertaining the fake document," he added.

Mir said the leaders of the three parties will sit and discuss the future course of action.

"The people of the country are watching the developments and what type of politics the desperate BJP is playing to form the government," he said.