In a tweet filled with sarcasm, author Chetan Bhagat compared Shiv Sena to a lover who ditched a paramour.
"Maharashtra Politics: Before election:B: I love you / S: I love you more. Can't wait to get married.
"Post-election: B: People have spoken. Let's get married / S: Mummy was saying, ek do ladke aur dekh lo. Bas mil lo (mom was asking me to get acquainted with other suitors)," Bhagat said in a tweet on Tuesday, summing up how Shiv Sena's relation with the Bharatiya Janata Party changed following the fractured verdict in the state.
Uddhav Thackeray spoke to Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi on the phone on Tuesday and met senior leader Ahmed Patel in Mumbai to discuss the finer aspects of state government formation.
"Yes Just like Bihar politics, in fact in Bihar they married for a few years and then one got into illicit relationship. Good story for your book," said one follower.
"The opportunistic politics of Shiv Sena has turned it a villain in Hindutva politics," tweeted one user.
#ShivSenaCheatsMaharashtra Now we have got our own Kejriwal, thank you Udhav Thackery for back stabbing us!. We will soon recover by the grace of Goddess Bahavani! You have join hands with Afzal Khans & Aurang Zebs for the sake of power, only power! Jai #Maharashtra," wrote another.
Some users even retweeted a 2014 tweet by Aaditya Thackeray, son of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, in which he accused the Congress and the NCP of looting Maharashtra.
"With a mere 44 seats (less that all others!) the queen bee insists on calling the shots. In their 'Common Minimum Program', she's the final authority & wants to ensure her allies "eschew communal approach". Good time to ask @ShivSena their stand on Veer Savarkar?," Priti Gandhi, incharge of BJP Mahila Morcha social media cell, said in a tweet on Wednesday.
While the Congress won 44 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, NCP won 54, Shiv Sena 56 and the BJP, which emerged as the single largest party after the results were declared, won 105 seats.
Congress, however, hit back at the critics.
"My friend @awasthis is hurt on reports of NCP & INC supporting a Shiv Sena govt. Where was this outrage when BJP joined hands with PDP or when BJP and JDU came together? #Maharashtra," Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera tweeted.
Meanwhile, after nearly three weeks of political drama, Maharashtra was on Tuesday brought under President's rule.
Maharashtra Governor B.S. Koshyari sent his recommendation to the Union Home Ministry calling for imposing President's rule, saying his attempts to put a government in place in the state had failed.
( With inputs from IANS )