Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: A day after the BJP-led Maha Yuti alliance got a drubbing in Maharashtra, the politics in the western Indian state took a curious turn with the saffron party’s trouble-shooter Devendra Fadnavis offering to step down as the Deputy Chief Minister.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the chief leader of Shiv Sena, who leads the Maha Yuti (NDA) government, however, said that he would hold discussions with Fadnavis.
“Electoral defeat is a collective responsibility. All three parties had worked together in the elections,” Shinde said.
After the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi was toppled in July-July 2022 and Eknath Shinde took over as Chief Minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah ordered him to join the government as a Deputy Chief Minister to ensure stability. A year later after the BJP-engineered split in Shiv Sena, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP faced the same fate in June-July 2023 with Ajit Pawar rebelling against his mentor and joining the Maha Yuti (NDA) dispensation.
The decision of Fadnavis has come as an important development as he calls the shots in the government and acts as a binding force.
After a review meeting of the election management committee of BJP in Mumbai, Fadnavis, while speaking to reporters, said that he has offered to step down.
“I accept full responsibility for failure in Maharashtra…I am requesting the BJP high command to relieve me from the responsibility of the government. I will request the top leadership of the party to allow me to work full-time for the assembly. I would go as per their advice,” Fadnavis said.
In the Lok Sabha polls in 48 seats of Maharashtra, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (I.N.D.I.A.) managed 30 seats while the BJP-led Maha Yuti settled for just 17 seats of which nine are of BJP. Not only has the alliance tally gone down, BJP’s numbers have reduced to nine from 23 in 2019 and 2014.
Coinciding with the 400-plus aim of the NDA, Fadnavis has set the target of a minimum of 45 seats in Maharashtra.
Fadnavis said that they have failed counter the narrative put forward by the opposition that BJP will change the Constitution. “We realised it…we tried to counter it…It was damaging to the BJP in a big way,” he said.
Fadnavis also admitted that there were issues related to coordination among the three allies.
The opposition MVA has mocked Fadnavis and said that the real responsibility of the defeat is the duo of Modi-Shah and their tall claims.
“Fadnavis’ wish to step down is just drama. You (Fadnavis) used official machinery to give the breakaway factions of Shiv Sena and NCP the (original) party symbol and name. But the people have now expressed their opinion about who these two parties belong to. Will Modi resign?,” asked Maharashtra Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe.
NCP (SP) chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said: “The votes of the Shiv Sena led by Shinde and Ajit Pawar's NCP did not get transferred to the BJP. Actually they want the resignation of Shinde and Ajit Pawar and hence he offered to resign.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut described Fadnavis’ move as a “drama”.
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