MUMBAI: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said he would request BJP top leadership to relieve him from the government duties so that he could focus on state assembly polls, a statement coming a day after the BJP suffered a drubbing in Lok Sabha polls in the state.
He also conceded that issues of coordination exist with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar of NCP.
"I take full responsibility for the BJP's defeat in Maharashtra. I fell short in some places, and the setback in Maharashtra is my fault. To focus on the next assembly elections and fix the shortcomings, I request the top brass of my party to relieve me of my government duties. I will meet my seniors and communicate my expectations to them," Fadnavis said while addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in Mumbai.
He said they failed to counter the narrative put forward by the opposition that BJP will change the constitution. It was damaging to the BJP in a big way, he said.
Fadnavis said he would hold discussions with his seniors and will work as per their guidance.
"There were some issues of coordination with chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, which we will meet and discuss soon," he said.
However, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said that BJP's electoral defeat is a collective responsibility.
"I will speak to Devendraji soon..We have worked together in the past and will keep on working in the future. Failures must not discourage us..," Shinde said.
Responding to Fadnavis's statements, the Congress on Wednesday said his offer to resign was only "drama".
Fadnavis is running an "unconstitutional government" and had publicly stated that he returned to power by breaking up two parties, said state Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe.
"His wish to resign is just drama. You (Fadnavis) used official machinery to give the breakaway factions of Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party the (original) party symbol and name. But the people have now expressed their opinion about who these two parties belong to. Will (Prime Minister) Modi resign?" he asked in a statement.
NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase claimed that Fadnavis had proposed to resign because he intended to make Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Ajit Pawar quit.
The votes of the Shiv Sena led by Shinde and Ajit Pawar's NCP did not get transferred to the BJP, Tapase said.
"The BJP which wanted to destroy Sharad Pawar politically has fallen flat on its face," he added.
Clyde Crasto, another NCP (SP) spokesperson, mocked the BJP leader saying "sources say that Mr Devendra Fadnavis is planning to end his era of politics."
Crasto was referring to Fadnavis' remark in 2019 that the Sharad Pawar era of politics was over.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the assembly Vijay Wadettiwar said Fadnavis was a very capable leader who wanted to become chief minister when the BJP-Shiv Sena government was formed in 2022, but ended up becoming a deputy CM.
"It is because of the misdeeds of the present government that we got a good number of seats in the Lok Sabha. They should continue with their performance so that we win the assembly elections as well. Fadnavis should continue as a minister," he said.
The BJP and allies got 17 seats in Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra, with the BJP's tally dwindling by less than half compared to 2019, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) won 30 of the 48 seats.
