Caravan News
MUMBAI – After NCP leader Ajit Pawar quit as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis has announced his resignation as the chief minister ahead of a floor test ordered by the Supreme Court tomorrow saying that his party does not have numbers to prove majority.
At a Press Conference held in Mumbai on Tuesday, Fadnavis said that he will submit his resignation to the governor after the press conference.
“After Mr. pawar’s resignation we don’t have the majority. We will not do any horse trading was our stand even earlier and we had only formed the government only after whole of the NCP came to us in the form of letters submitted to us,” said Fadnavis.
Commenting on NCP-Congress-Sena alliance, he said “This government (NCP-Cong-Shiv Sena) will bury under its own complications. The agenda of this government will be only for the lust of power. The BJP will sit in opposition to work for the people of state”
“This government will be like a three wheeler which won’t be able to run the State for a long time,” he added
Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in on Saturday in a controversial oath ceremony that was challenged in the Supreme Court by his party Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena and Congress.
The Supreme Court ordered the Fadnavis government to prove its majority by tomorrow in a televised test of strength that would not be carried out by secret ballot. “If the floor test is delayed, there is a possibility of horse-trading, it becomes incumbent upon the Court to act to protect democratic values. An immediate floor test, in such a case, might be the most effective mechanism to do so,” said the Supreme Court, in a massive setback to the BJP on a day India paid tribute to its constitution.
After joining hands with the BJP and becoming Mr Fadnavis’s deputy, Ajit Pawar had claimed the support of all 54 MLAs of his party NCP, but his uncle Sharad Pawar had contested it.
Yesterday, Ajit Pawar did not assume charge officially even though Mr Fadnavis did. He was also missing from the Chief Minister’s first meeting last evening and he skipped a memorial even for 26/11 martyrs this morning.
His absence reinforced reports that the NCP, especially his uncle and other top leaders, were trying to persuade him to quit the government and return to the party fold. His son Rohit Pawar also reportedly made an emotional appeal, reminding him that Sharad Pawar had stood by their family in tough times.
