Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday took responsibility for NDA’s poor performance in Maharashtra and offered to relieve him from the post of deputy chief minister.

While NDA won a majority by winning 292 out of 543 seats, it trailed behind the INDIA bloc in Maharashtra.

NDA won 17 out of 48 seats while the INDI Alliance, which includes NCP-SP and Shiv Sena-UBT, bagged 30 seats.

Talking about NDA’s poor performance in the state, Fadnavis said, “This debacle that happened in Maharashtra, our seats have reduced, the entire responsibility for this is mine. I accept this responsibility and will try to fulfill whatever is lacking. I am not a person who will run away… we will prepare a new strategy and after preparing a new strategy we will go among the public.”

CM Shinde replies

In a consolatory tone, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the party’s electoral defeat was a “collective responsibility” and that all the three parties – BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP – “worked together in the elections.”

“If you look at the vote share, Mahayuti got more than two lakh votes in Mumbai,” Shinde said, adding that although the number of seats won by the NDA has decreased, votes have increased.

The chief minister will meet Fadnavis soon and said that “failures must not discourage”, in reference to the deputy chief minister’s offer to step down.

NDA’s ‘Maha’ loss in state

In 2019, the saffron party won 23 seats in Maharashtra while this time it won in single digits: 9.

While talking to the media, the Maharashtra deputy chief minister said that the BJP would rectify its mistakes and try to regain the trust of the people.

“I want to work to strengthen the party,” Fadnavis said as he requested his party to relieve him from his duties, adding that he will meet senior BJP leaders soon.

Meanwhile, NDA is all set to hold a meeting at the prime minister’s residence in New Delhi. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is expected to attend the meeting.

The 2024 Lok Sabha elections saw two leaders – TDP’s Chandrababu Naidu and JDU’s Nitish Kumar – emerge as kingmakers. The BJP is anxious to retain the support of its allies, including TDP and JDU.

Amid this, Shinde has confirmed his continued support to NDA.

Currently, Maharashtra is ruled by a Shiv Sena-BJP alliance. The political situation in the western state started to shake up when Chief Minister Eknath Shinde left the Balasaheb Thackeray-founded party to join hands with the BJP.

Maharashtra saw another significant change in its politics after NCP-SP Chief Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar joined the ruling party as the state’s deputy chief minister.

Since then, Maharashtra has become an important political ground as all three parties, BJP, NCP-SP and Shiv Sena try to hold their position in the state.

However, the BJP’s dismal in the state has caused concern among top brass.

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Here’s why Devendra Fadnavis has offered BJP to relieve him from Maharashtra Dy CM post