Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has expressed his desire to step down from his role as Deputy CM. He wants to focus on BJP organizational work and improve the party’s performance in the upcoming Assembly elections. Fadnavis took full responsibility for the party’s disappointing performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections, where the BJP’s tally in Maharashtra dropped significantly from 23 seats in 2019 to just nine this year.
Despite the BJP and its allies securing 17 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, the results were overshadowed by the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising Congress, Shiv Sena, and NCP. The MVA collectively won 30 seats, marking a substantial gain for the alliance. Fadnavis, who was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister in 2022, now seeks to contribute to the party’s organizational strength and future strategies.
BJP, Allies Slip Up In Lok Sabha Poll
In 2019 the BJP – then with the undivided Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray – won 23 of 25 Lok Sabha seats it fought in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena contested the other 23 and won 18.
Mr Fadnavis was then the Chief Minister.
This time the party – allied with the splinter units of the Sena and NCP that had helped Mr Fadnavis bring down the opposition alliance that succeeded him – won just nine seats. Its allies – led by Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, who were made chief minister and deputy – won eight of the 19 seats they fought.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has offered to resign after claiming responsibility for the BJP’s poor showing in the Lok Sabha election in the state. “Whatever loss we suffered in Maharashtra… I take full responsibility. I urge top leadership to relieve me of my ministerial duties…”
The senior BJP leader said issues affecting farmers – who have emerged, some believe, as a problematic voter base for the saffron party since the national protests of 2020/21 – had affected the results.
He also blamed the opposition for “false propaganda that the Constitution would be altered”. The reference was to the Congress claiming the BJP, if elected with the overwhelming mandate sought, would change parts of the Constitution, including dropping the word ‘secular’ from the Preamble.
