The resignation of BJP MLA Ashish Deshmukh has been accepted by Speaker Haribhau Bagde, days after he announced his decision to quit the state legislative assembly over "poor" performance of the Central and state governments headed by his party.
Deshmukh, who is a staunch supporter of separate Vidarbha state, had announced that he would switch over to the Congress.
In a letter addressed to Election Commission of India (ECI) Monday, the administration of legislative assembly has stated that Deshmukh's resignation has come into effect from October 6.
Deshmukh, who represents Katol assembly constituency in Nagpur district in east Maharashtra, had accused the BJP government of ignoring the plight of farmers and youths in the country and indulging in "divisive and vote bank politics".
He is the son of former president of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee Ranjeet Deshmukh.
He had met Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on the sidelines of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting held in Nagpur on October 2.
Deshmukh had also announced that he was resigning from the primary membership of the BJP.
He has been demanding that Vidarbha--a region in east Maharashtra comprising 11 districts--be carved out from Maharashtra.
Pro-Vidarbha activists have been claiming that the region remained backward due to "discriminatory" treatment meted out to the area by successive governments in Maharashtra.
Deshmukh had said, "The situation of farmers and the youth has worsened in the last four years but the government is indulged only in the politics of vote bank for wining elections and dividing the nation".
In the elections held in 2014 to elect the state Assembly, the BJP had won the highest number of seats at 122, followed by the Shiv Sena 63. The Congress and the NCP had won 42 and 41 seats, respectively.
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