Mumbai, November 26: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said he is resigning after his government lost majority following Dy CM Ajit Pawar quitting his post.
Ajit Pawar had supported BJP as leader of the 54-member NCP legislature party and with his resignation earlier in the day, the government has lost majority, he said.
“We don’t have majority after Ajit Pawar’s resignation as Dy CM,” Fadnavis said. “I will be submitting my resignation to the governor after this media briefing,” he said.
Fadnavis says BJP will become the voice of the people as a responsible opposition. “We won’t indulge in horse- trading,” he added.
Asked if he thought Ajit Pawar extending support to the BJP was a strategy of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Fadnavis said, “Sharad Pawar will be able to comment on this issue”.
“Ajit Pawar told me he was quitting due to personal reasons,” Fadnavis said.
Maharashtra Assembly poll mandate was more for BJP than Shiv Sena, Fadnavis said.
The BJP had won 105 seats in the Assembly elections, followed by the Sena which won 56 seats. The Congress had won 44 seats and the NCP 54.
Fadnavis claimed that after seeing the numbers the Sena had “started bargaining”. In a scathing attack on the Sena, Fadnavis claimed that the party had been lying and talking to other parties, making itself a laughing stock.
He said the Sena-Congress-NCP combine represented different ideologies. Fadnavis said the combine delayed its decision-making, and the Governor asked the BJP to form the government because the Shiv Sena had said it did not have the required numbers.
Fadnavis also addressed the events leading up to the stalemate between the Sena and the BJP claiming that “no promise had made on the issue of rotational CM.” with PTI
