Devendra Fadnavis quits as Maharashtra Chief Minister; says Sena shunned BJP but talked to Cong-NCP

NEW DELHI: Devendra Fadnavis on Friday resigned as Maharashtra chief minister, five years and a week after he assumed the state’s top job, as an aggressive Shiv Sena rebuffed all attempts to form an alliance government.nnFadnavis, 49, drove to Raj Bhavan and handed over his resignation to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who asked him to be the “caretaker CM” till alternate arrangements are made.nn

When we were at Raj Bhavan earlier today, to submit my resignation to Hon’ble Governor @BSKoshyari ji. pic.twitter.com/Xq1QcxSQVr

— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) November 8, 2019

nnThe development came a fortnight after results of the October 21 Assembly elections were declared.nn”The alternate arrangements could be anything, be it a new government or imposition of President’s rule,” Fadnavis told reporters after meeting the governor.nn”The governor has accepted my resignation. I thank the people of Maharashtra for giving me the chance to serve them for the last five years,” Fadnavis said.nn”For last 5 years we faced many difficulties like continous drought, floods, unseasonal rains, but still have been able to support our farmers with historic assistance like never before.We have been able to take Maharashtra on number 1 rank in all sectors, including Infra, Metro, GramSadak, Airport, Railway projects and many pending projects are brought back on track,” he said.nnFadnavis blamed ally Shiv Sena for the impasse over government formation after the Assembly polls.nnRefuting Sena’s claim, Fadnavis asserted that no decision was taken “in his presence” that the two will share the chief minister’s post.nn”I again want to make it clear that it was never decided that the CM’s post will be shared. There was never a decision on this issue. Even Amit Shah ji and Nitin Gadkari ji said this was never decided,” he said.nnThe Sena had claimed that before the Lok Sabha polls, the two allies had decided to share the CM’s post in the next term for two-and-half-years each.nnFadnavis said he called Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray for breaking the impasse many times, but “Uddhav ji did not take my calls.”nnThe Shiv Sena’s “policy” of not talking with the BJP but holding talks with the opposition Congress and NCP was wrong, he said.nn”The day poll results came, Uddhav ji said all options open for government formation. That was shocking for us as people had given mandate for our alliance and in such circumstances it was a big question for us that why he said that all options are open for him,” he said.nnWith the impasse on government formation continuing even a fortnight after Assembly poll results, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said why wasn’t the governor calling the single largest party.nnPawar said he was not aware why Governor Koshyari was not inviting the BJP, which emerged as the single largest party winning 105 seats in the October 21 Assembly election, to stake claim to form government.nnUnion minister Ramdas Athawale on Friday met Pawar here “to seek his advice” on ending deadlock over government formation in Maharashtra.nnSpeaking to reporters after the meeting, Pawar suggested the BJP and Shiv Sena through Athawale to respect the “clear cut majority” people have given them.nnPawar said, “Such a situation should not prevail in a state like Maharashtra. He (Athawale) asked for advice. We have consensus that the people have given the BJP and Shiv Sena clear cut mandate.”nnFor how long can the President or Governor wait, Pawar said, adding they will have to take some decision soon.nnThere has been no headway in government formation even a fortnight after Assembly poll results were announced on October 24.nnThe BJP and Shiv Sena are locked in a tussle over the issue of the chief minister’s post, resulting in a stalemate despite the Assembly poll results giving the alliance a combined seat strength of 161, way past the 145 majority mark in the 288-member House.nnIn the polls, the BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena-56, NCP-54 and the Congress won 44 seats.nnSource: Press Trust of India