The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis today (June 8) rubbished all rumours about his resignation from the post of Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He said, "I am not going anywhere and I have not taken any decision out of my emotions, but I have some strategy in my mind."
Following the BJP's electoral reverses in the state of Maharashtra on June 4, Fadnavis has offered to resign from his post. Addressing the BJP MLA, MLCs meeting at Vasant Smruti in Dadar Mumbai on Saturday, Fadnavis said, "I have met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and I am not going to sit quietly for even a minute."
Devendra Fadnavis on Lok Sabha poll results
"In the Lok Sabha Election Results 2024, BJP received as many seats as I.N.DI.A bloc got in total three elections. But, we should understand the political arithmetic as we have got 2 lakh more votes in Mumbai", Fadnavis added.
The INDIA alliance's performance in Maharashtra, the second-biggest contributor of MPs to the Lok Sabha, was one of the reasons the BJP was reduced to 240 seats from its tally of 303 in 2019. The NDA, however, won 293 Lok Sabha seats, comfortably over the majority mark of 272.
Days after he offered to resign taking responsibility for the BJP's poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis said he would continue to work. Speaking after a party meeting where state BJP legislators passed a resolution reposing faith in him and seeking that he continue as party leader, he also said that fake narrative acted as another opposition party that the ruling Mahayuti coalition had to fight.
His offer to quit as deputy CM was not prompted by emotions or sadness over the electoral setback, Fadnavis told reporters, adding, "I am not someone who runs away.
I fight back. When cornered on all sides, we can rise again with force and this is what we learn from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj."Meeting with Amit Shah
"I met Amit Shah (in Delhi) who asked me to continue, and I will do that. We have a strategy. I have already started work (for the assembly elections which are due this year)," Fadnavis added.
The rumour that the BJP intended to change the Constitution hurt the ruling alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP in the state, he claimed.
"Fake narrative was a fourth (opposition) party in addition to the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi. We realised it after the fourth phase," Fadnavis said, talking about the reasons for the MVA outperforming the ruing Mahayuti alliance.
"Fake narratives have a long life. PM Modi has decided to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Constitution (yet the narrative spread)," he added.
While the Mahayuti won 17 of 48 seats in Maharashtra, the MVA of the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress won 30. A rebel Congress candidate won another seat. There was talk of sympathy for Uddhav Thackeray, but his party was "banished" from Thane and Konkan areas where it lost all seats, the BJP leader said.
"In Mumbai, Marathi-speaking voters did not support Uddhav Thackeray. His party won because of the consolidation of votes of a particular community," Fadnavis further said, adding that the Sena (UBT) had a narrow lead in Marathi-dominated assembly segments of Worli, Shivdi, Vikhroli and Bhandup.
The BJP's vote share did not decline compared to 2019, and the saffron party lost 11 constituencies by less than five per cent votes, he noted. Despite the Opposition's propaganda about industrial projects going to Gujarat, Maharashtra was at the top position in terms of industrial investment, and Gujarat and Karnataka had raced ahead of Maharashtra during Uddhav Thackeray's tenure as chief minister, Fadnavis claimed.
He has asked allies Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar that party spokespersons should exercise caution while speaking, he said, conceding that there were complaints of lack of coordination among the allies.
Eknath Shinde on Fadnavis resignation offer
Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said he will speak with Devendra Fadnavis, who has offered to resign from the post following the BJP's electoral reverses in the state. Interacting with media, Shinde said electoral defeat was a collective responsibility as the three parties- BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP- had contested the Lok Sabha elections as an alliance.
The BJP managed to win nine Lok Sabha seats in the state, as against 22 won in the 2019 elections, while the Shinde-led Shiv Sena emerged victorious on seven seats and Ajit Pawar-led NCP could win one seat. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition had won 41 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra.
"I will speak to Devendraji soon," Shinde told media when asked about Fadnavis' offer to resign as deputy chief minister and focus on rebuilding the party for the assembly elections later this year.
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