Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis Offers To Resign After BJP's Poor Show In Lok Sabha Polls

Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis has said that he is willing to resign from the post of Deputy Chief Minister after poor performance of his party in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 which were announced on Tuesday.

In the wake of the NDA's poor performance in Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has offered to resign. The saffron party, which had 23 MPs from the state in 2019, was reduced to 9 in 2024.

"I want to work at the organizational level to improve the party's performance in the upcoming Assembly elections. I want to devote my full time to strengthening the organization. I am going to request my central leadership to free me from my responsibilities in the state government," Fadnavis told the media after a review meeting on the Lok Sabha results on Wednesday.

Fadnavis served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra between 2014 and 2019. In a dramatic turn of events in 2019, the Shiv Sena broke its alliance with the BJP and joined the Congress-NCP's 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' despite initially winning the elections in partnership with the BJP.

However, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction rebelled against the party, leading to the collapse of the 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' in 2022. Subsequently, the rebel faction joined the NDA alliance, and Shinde became the Chief Minister, with Fadnavis assuming the role of Deputy Chief Minister.

A similar split occurred in the NCP after the Ajit Pawar-led faction joined the BJP.

Political pundits believe that the breaking away of these parties negatively impacted the BJP's image, as reflected in the results of the Lok Sabha polls.