Mumbai, June 17 (AHN) The simmering political crisis in Maharashtra over the alleged poaching of Shiv Sena-UBT lawmakers escalated into a full-blown confrontation on Wednesday, as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies launched a coordinated and blistering assault on the ruling MahaYuti alliance.

Condemning the rumoured defections ahead of the crucial June 19 Shiv Sena Foundation Day, top leaders from the Congress and the NCP-SP criticised the ongoing manoeuvres as "political adultery" and a "relentless assault on democracy".

The Opposition MVA alleged that the financial stakes have risen exponentially, claiming that the going rate to induce an MP to switch sides has reached a staggering Rs 85 crore.

NCP-SP legislator Rohit Pawar led the charge with a fiercely worded attack, stripping away the tactical military jargon often used to describe political defections.

"Getting married to one and then running away holding someone else's hand... this is an utterly nauseating political adultery, and it's a sign that the march toward dictatorship has begun by breaking the Constitution and democracy. This should not be called 'Operation Tiger' but 'Operation Bazaar' -- a marketplace. Whether this bazaar is worthy of our people or our ideas will be decided by the citizens themselves," Rohit Pawar said.

He openly questioned the source of the immense funding driving these structural splits.

"The rate for each MP is now Rs 85 crore. Where does the money come from for the concerned party to pay such astronomical amounts?" he asked, warning that public patience is wearing thin across India.

He listed a sequence of broken parties -- Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party, Aam Aadmi Party, and Trinamool Congress -- warning that if this trend continues, "the people themselves will take to the streets and won't rest until they thrash those who run away and those who lure them away."

He lamented that while hundreds of crores are spent on political engineering, the real crises of Maharashtra are ignored.

"The shadow of drought looms over our heads, there's no water for drinking or farming, agricultural produce fetches no price, and unemployment is rising. The middle class has no money to pay EMIs, yet there is absolutely no discussion on this misfortune."

Maharashtra Congress Legislative Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar expressed deep fury over the political landscape that has unfolded over the past twelve years, targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) established modus operandi.

"The word 'operation' is traditionally used to heal a patient or to save a nation from a deep crisis. But what we are witnessing today is no operation -- it is a relentless assault on the country itself. Democracy is not merely a means to win elections; it is the trust bestowed by the people and the responsibility entrusted by the Constitution," Wadettiwar said.

He added that fracturing opposition parties, luring elected representatives, and putting immense pressure on democratic institutions to yield political gains has become the standard playbook of the ruling dispensation.

He reminded the rumoured defectors that their mandate was explicitly "anti-BJP".

"In the recent Lok Sabha elections, votes were sought in the name of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. If MPs go against this today and join the BJP's fold, it is a direct betrayal of the voters' trust. Those who sacrifice the mandate for the lure of power will never be forgiven by history," Wadettiwar said, calling on citizens to fiercely question their representatives' loyalty.

State Congress Spokesperson Sachin Sawant pulled no punches, describing the ongoing political engineering in Maharashtra as a "nauseating, filthy, and grotesque naked dance" fueled by an insatiable lust for unlimited power.

“From the political earthquakes orchestrated by the BJP, only venom is emerging, and it is spreading everywhere in society. The BJP and RSS are obsessed with ensuring that the lotus blooms everywhere. But to us, it seems like pervasive muck and quagmire everywhere. If the people do not find a way out right now, what lies ahead is nothing but ruin -- and even now, it is far too late."

Sawant warned that these manoeuvres are passing down a deeply corrupt ideal to the next generation, dragging the nation toward total systemic destruction.