Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis resigns; says Shiv Sena made sure there was no communication

After BJP and ally Shiv Sena found themselves at an impasse over the power sharing agreement, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis handed his resignation to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Friday. The term of the Maharashtra assembly ends tomorrow and the CM resigned from his seat a few hours before the midnight deadline.  

Devendra Fadnavis spoke to the media and asked whether continuing and alliance with Shiv Sena was worth it. "Given their statements, especially against the PM, we are stunned and hurt. No one from the BJP ever targeted Bal Thackeray or Uddhav Thackeray. But the way the Sena relentlessly attacked Modi-ji, even our rivals didn't. We cannot accept it. It seems the Shiv Sena is not interested in continuing the alliance," he said. He also stated that they were surprised by Uddhav Thackeray's 'all-options open' statement.

"We have never promised any rotational chief ministership. There was no discussion to give the Sena two-and-a-half years to rule, at least in my presence, and I was there in the entire meeting," he stated.

After the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance won the latest Maharashtra election, Uddhav Thackeray sought to remind the BJP that they had agreed on a 50:50 power sharing arrangement. He said that the Shiv Sena would see through two and a half years of chief ministership, out of the five years.

Fadnavis who was hoping for a second full term rejected this deal. "I tried to talk to him (Uddhav Thackeray) on several occasions, I even called him on the phone but he did not speak. The Shiv Sena consciously made sure that there was no communication with BJP but with the Congress and the NCP (Nationalist Congress Party)," stated Fadnavis.

He stated that Shiv Sena will not manage to form a government in this way. "BJP wants to form an alliance, not break it. The BJP will form a government with its chief minister," he said.

The BJP won 105 seats, while the Shiv Sena won 56 seats, taking it to a total of 161 seats in the 288-member house.   

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