Mumbai, November 26: Days after swearing-in as Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday resigned from the post. Fadnavis announced his resignation during a press a press conference in Mumbai. The Maharashtra CM made an announcement hours  after the Supreme Court ordered a floor test in Maharashtra assembly on Wednesday. Fadnavis will submit his resignation to state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari in the evening. Earlier in the day, rebel Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar also resigned from the post of Maharashtra Deputy CM. 

Speaking at the press conference, Fadnavis said that BJP emerged as the single largest party in the assembly elections. He once against reiterated that the saffron party never promised the Shiv Sena the CM post.  Blaming its warring ally, Fadnavis said that we fought elections with Shiv Sena and later the Uddhav Thackeray-led party backed off creating political crisis in the state. He also said that the Hindutva had bowed down in front of Sonia Gandhi. The BJP leader further added that, the saffron will now work as an effective opposition party.

Fadnavis' resignation paved way for Thackeray to become Maharashtra CM. The Shiv Sena chief is likely to be elected as the head of "Maha Vikas Agadi" -  the Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance. On Monday, in a show of strength, the NCP, the Shiv Sena and the Congress assembled their MLAs at Mumbai's Grand Hyatt hotel.

The alliance claimed the support of 162 MLAs. Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP president Sharad Pawar and senior Congress leaders were present during the show of strength. Thackeray said that the fight was not just for power but also for truth. Meanwhile, the NCP chief also lashed out at the BJP. He exuded confidence that the "Maha Vikas Agadi" would form government in the state.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court ordered Fadnavis and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to prove their majority in the Maharashtra Assembly through a floor test on November 27, before 5 pm. The top court also stated that the floor test would be conducted by a pro-tem speaker. The ShivSena-Congress-NCP filed a writ petition in the top court against the swearing-in of Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.

The political stalemate erupted in the state after the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance collapsed in Maharashtra. The BJP which emerged as the single largest party bagged 105 seats, while the Shiv Sena clinched 56 seats. The Thackeray-led part backed out of the alliance as the BJP rejected its demand for equal power-sharing, including the CM post for  2.5 years.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 26, 2019 03:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).