'Idealogies, prepoll alliances mean nothing to them': Shah on Maharashtra situation

New Delhi: Union Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday accused Shiv Sena of insulting the mandate, saying that the three parties who have staked claim to form the government in Maharashtra did so by shedding their ideologies and principles.

"Who broke the mandate first? I clearly think it was done by the Shiv Sena first. I am quite clear that Shiv Sena violated the spirit of mandate. No one tells Shiv Sena about this," said Shah while speaking at the Republic Summit during an interaction with Republic's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami.

The BJP president tweeted a 123-second video clip of his interaction and wrote: "It is the Shiv Sena which has insulted the mandate, not the BJP. Those who put camps of MLAs, broke the pre-poll alliances, instead of them, it is the BJP which is being blamed. Shedding their ideologies, three parties are forming the government."

"Leaving an ideology, leaving the pre-poll alliance when these three parties were getting together...everybody was clapping. I don't want to name a journalist but the journalist said -- "Inhone to Bharat ke andar kranti kr di."

And next day when Ajit Dada supported us -- kaise ye kar sakti hai BJP -- to unki kranti ki hawa nikal gayee," said the BJP president.

Shah stressed that the mandate in the state is with the BJP.

"All I want to ask -- Who broke the mandate? We didn't. We did neither camp our MLAs nor made them hostage in hotels. Those who made camps didn't do anything wrong? Those who broke alliances to form the government are not wrong? We are at the receiving end. The mandate is with us. We are not forming the government ... It is our fault," he said taking a jibe at his critics.

"So, leaving behind ideologies and principles just to keep the BJP out of power anyway, and forming the government and then presenting it as the failure of the BJP ... I think the people of the country don't get swayed by such propaganda. The people know what has happened and we have good communication with the people of the country," said he.

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray is set to be sworn in as Chief Minister of Maharashtra on November 28.

On Tuesday, Thackeray was unanimously elected as the leader of the three-party -- Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP -- alliance.

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis submitted his resignation on Tuesday as Chief Minister to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari after "the BJP fell short of the required number of MLAs to win the scheduled floor test."