Mumbai:
Former state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president and Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Raosaheb Danve on Monday denied reports of the BJP launching Operation Lotus to shore up its numbers ahead of the impending floor test later this week. Speaking to newspersons here at state BJP headquarters, he maintained that Ajit Pawar was still the legislature party leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and that the NCP MLAs will have to abide by the whip he (Ajit Pawar) issues.
Replying to Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s allegation of BJP launching Operation Lotus to split Congress-NCP-Sena legislators, the BJP Union Minister remarked “there is no Operation Lotus going on. We have enough MLAs for majority. We are not threatening any MLA. Sanjay Raut’s allegations are false, after a few days he will have to be sent to a mental hospital”. Raut on the other hand while claiming that the opposition has the support of 162 MLA’s, invited the media for a floor test at Hotel Grand Hayatt in Mumbai in the evening.
Commenting upon the legal battle going on before the Supreme Court, Danve stated that Kapil Sibal who once termed Lord Ram as imaginary and argued against construction of Ram Mandir is the lawyer for Sena. Raut had written an editorial in Saamana. Referring to the Sena-Congress-NCP MLAs being holed up in Five Star Hotels in Mumbai, he said that while the BJP has directed its legislators to go to the farms and reach out to the farmers, the Congress-NCP-Sena MLAs are put up in Five Star Hotels in Mumbai.
Danve ruled out the possibility of the dissolution of the legislative assembly and argued that the BJP was ready to prove its majority on the floor of the house. He added that once the Court directs for a floor test, we are ready for it. Commenting upon the dispute over letter of support and fresh letter of support presented to the Governor, Danve argued that as things stand today Ajit Pawar is the NCPLP leader and that letters of support cannot have post-dated effect.
