In a dramatic turn of events, Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday stepped down as chief minister of Maharashtra three days after he was sworn in and about an hour after Ajit Pawar resigned as his deputy.
This comes after the Supreme Court this morning ordered a trust vote in the assembly tomorrow.
Addressing a press conference here Fadnavis said that he will tender his resignation to Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan.
"I'll go to Raj Bhavan and tender my resignation. I wish them (Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena) all the best whoever will form the government," Fadnavis said.
The development comes after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah soon after the Supreme Court ruling.
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Stating that the poll mandate was more for the BJP than the Shiv Sena, Fadnavis said that BJP will become the voice of the people and play the role of effective opposition.
"We don't have the majority after Ajit Pawar's resignation as Deputy chief minister. He told me that he has resigned due to personal reasons," Fadnavis said.
"We had decided that we will never indulge in horse-trading, that we will never try to break away any MLA. Those who said that we indulge in horse-trading bought the entire horse stable," he added.
"But that will be a very unstable government as there is a huge difference of opinions," he added.
Fadnavis also cast doubts on the Shiv-Sena-Congress-NCP combine succeeding to form a stable government.
"I doubt that this three-wheeler government will be stable," he said
The BJP leader said that Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Sharad Pawar, resigned after the Supreme Court ruling ordering the floor test to be conducted before 5 pm on Wednesday. "After the Supreme Court order, Ajit Pawar met me and said he wanted to resign," he said.
He said that BJP had no intentions to form the government after it fell out with Shiv Sena but decided to do so as NCP leader Ajit Pawar decided to assist us to form the government. "We held discussions, he gave us a letter (of support) and we formed the government," Fadanvis said.
Fadanvis took oath as Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar was sworn-in as his deputy early on Saturday evening, sending shockwaves in the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress camp which was working to form an alliance.
Fadanvis also said that Shiv Sena put the demand for the rotational chief minister's post after winning elections in alliance with the BJP. "They took benefit of the situation and started bargaining. They (Shiv Sena) took shelter of a deal which was never struck. Our president has also clarified it," he said.
The BJP leader alleged that the Shiv Sena's hunger for power was so much that it was "even willing to ally with Sonia Gandhi".
"Shiv Sena told the BJP leaders that it would go with any party which will offer the chief minister's post. But Shiv Sena told us that they will go with anyone who gives the chief minister's post," Fadnavis said.
Continuing his tirade against erstwhile ally Shiv Sena, Fadanvis said, "We waited for them(Shiv Sena) for a long time but they didn't respond and instead talked to Congress-NCP. People who never stepped outside Matoshree(Thackeray residence) to meet anyone were going door to door to make a government with NCP and Congress."
On Monday, Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena paraded their MLAs at a five-star hotel in Mumbai and claimed support of a total of 162 legislators.
The BJP had won 105 seats in the 288-member assembly in last month's assembly polls followed by Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54 and Congress 44. Although BJP and Shiv Sena got the mandate to form the government, the two parties parted ways over power-sharing.
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