The Communist Party of India-Marxist termed as "political immorality" the manner in which Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Saturday morning and said "it showed extent to which the BJP can stoop to grab power".
"The political immorality of the BJP has reached its nadir. The clandestine manner in which the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra have been sworn in shows the extent to which the BJP can stoop to grab power. This is in line with what they have done earlier in Goa, Karnataka, northeastern states, etc" the CPI-M politburo said in a statement.
The party said it is "unfortunate that both the Constitutional authorities - President's office and the Governor's office - have been misused to achieve their political purpose".
"The future developments shall be closely watched," the party said.
In a dramatic early morning development, Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as Maharashtra chief minister and NCP's Ajit Pawar as Deputy Chief Minister after the President's Rule was revoked hours earlier.
The development took political circles by surprise as Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena were in talks to form a government in the state.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said that his nephew Ajit Pawar's decision was against the party line.
( With inputs from ANI )