CM Fadnavis resigns, says BJP no longer has majority with Ajit

Three days after he was sworn in, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday announced his resignation, saying the BJP no longer has majority after his deputy, NCP's Ajit Pawar, quit citing "personal reasons".

Ajit Pawar, who only last week crossed over to the BJP camp and was sworn in alongwith Fadnavis in the early hours of Saturday morning, resigned earlier in the day.

Fadnavis made the announcement a day ahead of the floor test his government was supposed to face on Wednesday as per the Supreme Court's directions.

Holding a press conference here, Fadnavis said the BJP had decided from the first day that it would not poach MLAs to prove its majority.

He also accused the former ally Shiv Sena of being desperate for the chief minister's post and surrendering its "Hindutva" at the feet of Congress president Sonia Gandhi only to keep the BJP out of power.

"NCP's Ajit Pawar decided to co-operate with us. As per our discussion, we formed government," Fadnavis said.

"Today Ajit Pawar told me he was quitting due to personal reasons," he said.

"Ajit Pawar met me and said he could not continue with the alliance for some reasons and he was resigning. Since he has resigned, we too do not have majority," he said.

Those accusing the BJP of indulging in horse-trading have themselves purchased an "entire stable", Fadnavis said, hitting out at the Shiv Sena which is seeking to form government with the help of the Congress and NCP.

The BJP leader also questioned the sustainability of the government which the three parties with varying ideologies are planning to form.

The Sena-NCP-Congress government would be like an auto rickshaw with its three wheels running in different directions, he said, predicting that it would topple over.

After the press conference he will head for Raj Bhavan and submit his resignation to Governor B K Koshyari, Fadnavis said.