Claiming that neither the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) nor the Shiv Sena have extended a letter of support to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress on Thursday said that the "BJP has no moral right to stake claim for government formation." READ: Narendra Modi to be star attraction at Devendra Fadnavis’ grand swearing-in Congress legislator and spokesperson Anant Gadgil said, "As neither party has extended a letter of support, the BJP is short of reaching the half way mark. It does not have the moral right to form a government." Chiding the BJP for departing from the official protocol of a swearing-in ceremony, the Congress also claimed that the "sanctity of a swearing in had been lost with the BJP converting an official occassion into an event." While former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that he would be attending the event, party state chief Manikrao Thakre complained that he had not received an official invitation for the event. Thakre further said, "It is sad that the BJP has turned a state function into a party event. How can legislators of other parties attended such an event?," he asked. While NCP chief Sharad Pawar is unlikely to attend the event too, NCP office bearers said that state leaders Ajit Pawar, Sunil Tatkare, and RR Patil, among others will attend the event. Earlier, former Congress Lok Sabha member Sanjay Nirupam tore into the BJP for making the oath-taking ceremony a grand affair. Alleging that Rs 100 crore were being spent for the occasion, Nirupam quipped, "Is this the swearing in of a Chief Minister or coronation of king? The amount of money being spent is obscene." Gadgil asked, "Who is footing the bill for the extravaganza?." He added, "The same BJP that accused the Congress of corruption is now spending lavishly on an oath-taking ceremony," he said. He also chided the BJP's plans to use 25 boats along the Arabian Sea just off the Wankhe stadium to put up a giant cut out of a lotus in the sea. "It is another marketing gimmick," he said.
