Mumbai, Feb 21 (IANS) The Nationalist Congress Party on Tuesday slammed former state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's remarks on the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi regime headed by then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
NCP National Spokesperson Clyde Crasto and Chief Spokesperson Mahesh Tapase raised strong objections to the former Governor's utterances barely days after he stepped down from his post.
"After failing to perform his constitutional duties as Governor, Koshyari is now trying to please the Bharatiya Janata Party by speaking against Thackeray and MVA," said Crasto sharply.
Tapase said that there's no need to take Koshyari's comments 'seriously' as they are 'politically motivated' and come after he demitted his office last week to hide his own shortcomings as the Governor.
"In fact, the Governor should first clarify whether he had sworn-in the government of (CM) Eknath Shinde and (Deputy CM) Devendra Fadnavis without even giving them an invitation. This has been revealed in an RTI reply," Tapase said.
He pointed out that in the backdrop of the RTI reply, "the people of the state have a right to know what was the factual position at that time and the government must show where is the invitation letter which was issued to Shinde-Fadnavis" for the oath ceremony.
Crasto, while gently advising that 'silence will be golden' for Koshyari, said that his false rhetoric now will not suppress his failure to govern Maharashtra in a neutral and impartial manner.
Tapase also asked "whether as Maharashtra Governor Koshyari had fulfilled his duties of safeguarding the Constitution, or guiding and advising the state government on various issues of the state".
The NCP's reactions came a day after the former Governor made several claims to certain private television news channel in Dehradun on his rocky relations with the MVA government, which was toppled in June 2022 followed by the swearing-in of the Shinde-Fadnavis duo by Koshyari.
Among other things, Koshyari contended that Thackeray was a 'saintly' person but unfit to be the Chief Minister, he should have stuck to managing the Shiv Sena, he was made a sacrificial goat by the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party, and how the MVA had used an intimidating tone while asking him to approve the list of 12 nominated MLCs - but he never obliged them.
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