NCP criticises BJP for splurging on oath-taking ceremony

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which had earlier extended outside support to the BJP to form government in the state, criticised the party's lavish preparations for the chief minister's oath-taking ceremony that will be held at Wankhede stadium on Friday.

Nawab Malik, the NCP spokesperson, told dna that the BJP calls themselves the party with differences. "Now, the people have to judge whether the BJP, which squandering public money on a lavish oath-taking ceremony, is really the party with differences. There is no need to spend a huge amount of money on such simple and government functions. Earlier, BJP leaders used to criticise the Congress-NCP's tea-party expenditure. The oath-taking ceremony expose the BJP's hypocritical nature," said Malik.

Malik said that the fact that they had offered outside support does not mean they will not criticise the BJP for wrong decisions and policies. "We will play the constructive Opposition's role rather than destabilising the government. We want a stable government, therefore we have given them outside support. We will absent when they will be asked to prove the majority," said Malik.

Madhav Bhandari, BJP spokesperson, said that these are baseless criticisms. "Ours is the first BJP-led government in the state, so there is no big deal in spending money on an oath-taking ceremony. Our party workers are enthusiastic so they want to celebrate this moment," said Bhandari.