After the BJP-led coalition managed to secure only 17 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said he takes full responsibility for the results and requested the top leadership to relieve him from the responsibilities in the State government to enable him to strength the party ahead of Assembly elections.
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“I take responsibility for the results in Maharashtra, as I was leading the party,” he said. He added, “I request my top bosses to relieve me from governmental responsibilities, and let me work for the party… from outside for the party in the upcoming elections.”
The Assembly elections in the State are scheduled in less than six months from now. Mr. Fadnavis’ resignation comes after the BJP’s Lok Sabha tally came down from 23 in 2019 to nine in the western State. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP secured 23 seats and the undivided Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray won 18.
This time, however, their performance was eclipsed by the Opposition coalition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (Sharad Pawar). The MVA collectively won 30 seats, reflecting significant gains for the alliance.
The Congress achieved a notable increase, winning 13 seats compared to just one in 2019. The Shiv Sena (UBT) captured nine seats, and the NCP (Sharad Pawar) secured eight.
In Sangli, Congress leader Vishal Patil, the grandson of former Chief Minister Vasantdada Patil, contested and won as an independent candidate, after he failed to secure the ticket from the grand old party as the Shiv Sena (UBT) fielded wrestler Chandrahar Patil as part of the alliance. Mr. Patil will likely extend his support to MVA as the Congress leader and Sangli strongman Vishwajeet Kadam back him, and no disciplinary action was taken against him by the party.
Mr. Fadnavis, after attending a meeting with top State leaders to analyse the performance, said: “The entire responsibility for this result is mine. I agree that I was lacking somewhere in all this and am going to make all efforts to overcome this shortcoming,” he said, adding that he would meet the senior BJP leaders soon and do whatever they ask him to.
However, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said electoral defeat is a collective responsibility and all three parties had worked together in the elections. “If you look at the vote share, Mahayuti got more than two lakh votes in Mumbai. The false narrative that the Constitution will change, hurts us. The Opposition was shouting ‘Modi hatao’. Voters, however, the people of India kept them away from power and Modiji has a development agenda that could not be countered,” he said.
He said he would speak with Mr. Fadnavis soon about his decision and said, “We have worked together in the past and we will keep on working in the future. Failures must not discourage us,” said Mr. Shinde, who ousted his mentor Mr. Thackeray from the Shiv Sena, with the support of most of the party MLAs and MPs in 2022.
Earlier, Mr. Fadnavis said coordination issues exist with Mr. Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar of the NCP. Meanwhile, the Congress said Mr. Fadnavis’ offer to resign following the setback suffered by the BJP and allies is ‘drama’, and it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi who should quit.
“Fadnavis is running an ‘unconstitutional government’ and had publicly stated that he returned to power by breaking up two parties,” said State Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe-Patil
“His wish to resign is just drama. You (Mr. Fadnavis) used official machinery to give the breakaway factions of Shiv Sena and NCP (original) party symbol and name. But the people have now expressed their opinion about who these two parties belong to. Will (Prime Minister) Modi resign?” the Congress leader said.
The NCP (SP) leader Jayanth Patil said, “Does he want to replace current BJP State unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule or let him be to work with him? Anyway, it’s their internal party issue and I would not like to comment on it.”
