Devendra Fadnavis resigns as Chief Minister of Maharashtra day before floor test
Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday resigned as Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Tuesday, a day before a floor test ordered by the Supreme Court.
"After this, I'll go to Raj Bhavan and tender my resignation. I wish them all the best whoever will form the govt. But that will be a very unstable govt as there is a huge difference in opinions. Maharashtra," said Fadnavis while announcing his resignation at a presser held in Mumbai.
An hour before Fadnavis resigned from his post, NCP leader Ajit Pawar has also quit from the deputy chief minister post of the state.
Earlier in the day, a three-judge bench headed by Justice Ramana passed the order on a joint petition filed by the three parties challenging Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's decision of administering an oath to Fadnavis as Chief Minister and NCP's Ajit Pawar as his deputy during early hours of Saturday.
The Fadnavis government was formed at a time when deliberations among the three parties on government formation had reached the final stage. The urgent plea filed by the trio sought a direction to conduct an immediate floor test.
The floor test is a constitutional mechanism under which a chief minister can be asked to prove majority in the state Assembly.
Worth mentioning here that, Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister for the second consecutive term while NCP's Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of the state.
The move came at a time when deliberations between Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena seemingly reached the final stage last Friday.
The Fadnavis government was formed at a time when deliberations among the three
parties on government formation.
Meanwhile, NCP had replaced nephew of Sharad Pawar as legislature party leader with Jayant Patil.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said that the decision of his nephew Ajit Pawar to align with BJP was against the party line and
any MLA who aligns with him is likely to face anti-defection law.
On Monday, NCP legislative party leader Jayant Patil along with Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan and others visited Raj Bhawan and gave a letter showing the strength of 162 MLAs to the officials at Raj Bhavan.
The BJP won 105 seats in the 288-member assembly followed by Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54 and Congress 44.
