Ajit Pawar resigns as Maharashtra deputy CM day before Devendra Fadnavis floor test?
Mumbai: NCP’s Ajit Pawar has resigned as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, sources in the NCP have said, a development in line with the shocking turn of events that have been taking place in the state’s politics. Close aides of Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis confirmed to India Today TV that Ajit Pawar has indeed sent his resignation to the chief minister.
Ajit Pawar resigned just hours after the Supreme Court of India ordered an immediate floor test in the Maharashtra assembly.
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis is supposed to show that he enjoys the support of the majority of the Maharashtra assembly. However, the Opposition combine of Shiv Sena, Sharad Pawar-led NCP and the Congress have maintained that they have the support of more than 160 MLAs, suggesting that Fadnavis would not be able to prove majority.
Ajit Pawar’s resignation came days after he took oath as Fadnavis’s deputy early Saturday morning, a stunning development that blind-sided the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, all of three which had firmed up a post-poll alliance to stake claim to form government under Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.
The NCP claimed that Ajit Pawar, who is the nephew of party chief Sharad Pawar, had gone rogue and did not have the backing of the party as far as supporting the BJP was concerned. In the days since, the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress came together to claim that all their MLAs were together and they would be able to defeat Devendra Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar in a floor test.
A floor test was finally ordered by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The court said a floor test must be held in Maharashtra by 5pm on Wednesday.