Fadnavis quits, to continue as caretaker CM

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis resigned on Friday, blaming ally Shiv Sena for the impasse over government formation after the recent Assembly poll.

Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had asked him to continue as “acting chief minister”, he told reporters.

Fadnavis’s resignation came a day before the expiry of the 13th Legislative Assembly of the state.

He expressed confidence that the BJP will form the government, and hit out at the Sena for talking with the Congress and NCP but not with BJP after the results came on October 24.

Fadnavis, accompanied by some of his cabinet colleagues, drove to Raj Bhavan, and handed over his resignation to governor Koshyari.

“The governor has accepted my resignation. People of Maharashtra gave me the opportunity to serve them for five years. I thank them and my leaders Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, JP Nadda and others,” he said, addressing a press conference later.

The governor had asked him to continue as “acting” chief minister till alternative arrangements — new government or President’s rule — are in place, he said.

The next government will be a BJP-led one, and his party will not resort to poaching MLAs, he said.

He said he had given a clean government, with honesty and transparency. “Maharashtra has been leading on all fronts. We worked on water conservation schemes like Jalyukt Shivar and on huge infrastructure projects,” Fadnavis said.

“People of Maharashtra gave us a good mandate in Lok Sabha election and in Assembly poll the people gave more than 160 seats to the BJP-led alliance,” he said.

However, it was a shock for the BJP when the Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray declared soon after the results that “all options were open for Shiv Sena to form the government”, Fadnavis said.

“People had voted for Maha-yuti (BJP-Sena-led alliance). Why did Uddhav ji say that all options are open when I had said the new government will be that of Mahayuti?” he asked.

On the Shiv Sena’s contention that the two parties had decided, before the Lok Sabha poll, that the CM’s post will be shared for twoand-half-years each, Fadnavis said, “In my presence, no such decision was not taken. In fact, we had broken off the talks on this issue. I was present at all during the deliberations. I checked with Amit Shah ji, who also said a proposal for sharing chief minister’s post was given, but no decision was taken.”

Misunderstandings could be resolved through talks, but the Sena shunned talks, Fadnavis alleged.

“Uddhav Thackeray did not take my calls. We did not stop discussions. Our doors

were open,” he said.

Without naming Sena leader Sanjay Raut, who has been relentlessly attacking the BJP, Fadnavis said such statements against the BJP and its top leadership were not conducive for government formation.

“We can respond to such statements but we did not. Even our opponents have not made the kind of comments that were made against Modi ji in the last five years (by the Sena and its mouthpiece, Raut-edited ‘Saamana’),” he said, adding, “We will not tolerate criticism of Modi ji.”

The state was passing

through a critical period as a good harvest has been ruined by unseasonal rain in 325 tehsils, Fadnavis said. “A full-fledged government can take important decisions,” he added.

About his position as caretaker CM, he said, “I will function at the pleasure of governor till alter native arrangement is made. I cannot take new policy decisions. Fresh elections should not be imposed...the state should get a new government and we will make efforts in that direction. I am confident that we will have a BJP-led government,” he said.

The BJP and Shiv Sena are locked in a tussle over the chief minister’s post, despite the poll results giving the alliance a combined seat strength of 161, way past the 145 majority mark in the 288-member House.

In the polls, the BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena-56, NCP-54 and the Congress won 44 seats.