Kolkata: Criticising the BJP, the Centre and the Governor for the Maharashtra fiasco, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday expressed her disdain over the way the exercise for forming the Devendra Fadnavis government was undertaken “stealthily” in the midnight hours.
“Across the country, there is only one question in the hearts of common people – what was the need to carry out the exercise at midnight? I had heard about freedom at midnight. But I had never heard about formation of a government stealthily at midnight,” Banerjee told media persons here.
“Things happened at 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 4 a.m., 5.45 a.m. In the morning a government was formed when formation of another government having majority (Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress) had been finalised.
“No party, journalist or media was aware about the developments. Even the administration had no information. That’s the reason the perception (about the Fadnavis government) was bad,” the Trinamool Congress supremo said, hours after Fadnavis and his deputy Ajit Pawar put in their papers.
Referring to the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress parading 162 MLAs on Monday evening, she said Fadnavis has done the right thing by resigning as he didn’t have a majority.
However, she also opined that Fadnavis shouldn’t have taken up the post “till he was sure of a majority”.
Pulling up Maharastra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, she said before swearing in Fadnavis and Pawar, he should have asked the NCP whether the party would support the BJP in forming the government.
“Whether I support somebody or not, the letter has to come from the mother party. The mother party conveys that such and such is the legislature party leader, and under his leadership the party will support this and this.
“It does not happen that somebody comes forward and says about himself that he is the legislature party leader. Governor should have asked the mother party whether it has given the letter. Party is supreme,” she said.