BJP should prove majority immediately: Congress

New Delhi: Demanding a floor test immediately, the Congress on Sunday alleged that the BJP is "running away" from proving a majority in the Maharashtra Assembly as it does not have the required numbers.

Congress leader and former state chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in a joint plea by the Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena said they have sought the Supreme Court's intervention to order a floor test immediately.

Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the current government in the state is "illegitimate" and a floor test is the only solution.

In a dramatic development on Saturday morning, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the chief minister and Ajit Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was

sworn-in as the deputy chief minister.

The move jolted the the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena who were giving final touches to government formation in the state but rattled the NCP the most due to Ajit Pawar's rebellion. NCP president Sharad Pawar had snubbed Ajit Pawar for taking decisions unilaterally.

The BJP and Ajit Pawar are running away from a floor test as the Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena combine has the majority, Surjewala claimed.

"Our demand is simple. Let us have a floor test and whoever has the majority will be established. BJP and Ajit Pawar are shying away and running away from proving majority on the floor of the House. "The moment a floor test is ordered, our majority will be established and it will be proved that BJP in a surreptitious midnight operation using the office of the governor constituted an illegitimate government," he said.

Meanwhile, dubbing political developments in Maharashtra as a 'farzical strike' (fake strike) by the Centre, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday reiterated his demand for resignation of the Maharashtra governor on moral grounds over the "dubious" development in the state.

The role of Maharashtra governor in the entire development is unfortunate. It was a game and the country is surprised at it. The governor of Maharashtra should resign on moral ground, Gehlot said referring to the revocation of the President's rule and swearing-in of the chief minister and deputy chief minister there.