Will Amit Shah's intervention make Fadnavis drop decision to quit as Maha deputy CM?

Fadnavis met Amit Shah at his residence on Thursday

Lok Sabha polls Fadnavis seeks resignation Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis

Amid reports of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister  Devendra Fadnavis's decision to resign, taking responsibility for NDA's poor performance in the state, Home Minister Amit Shah has intervened and asked him to continue. 

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said that Fadnavis's resignation was not discussed at the NDA meeting held in Delhi.

Also Read | Fadnavis meets Amit Shah to discuss resignation but RSS wants him to continue: Report

BJP's ally Shiv Sena led by CM Eknath Shinde has won seven of the 15 seats it contested, while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP could manage just one of the four it contested of the 48 seats in the state. Altogether, only 17 seats were won in the state.

However, the Maha Vikas Aghadi, consisting of the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasahb Thackeray) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) won in 30 constituencies. 

A day after the counting of votes, Fadnavis had offered to resign. According to NDTV sources, the deputy CM met with Shah at his residence on Thursday and discussed the issues that led to the party's poor performance in the Maharashtra LS polls.

Reportedly, Fadnavis was asked to continue working for the Maharashtra government and also taking steps to revitalise the BJP in the state. “If you resign, the morale of BJP workers will be affected,” said Shah. 

Now it is yet to see if Fadnavis would continue to remain in the deputy CM post or would stay on with his decision to step down.

During his meeting with Shah, the deputy CM had reportedly expressed his unhappiness over the central leadership picking the candidates in Maharashtra. The lack of coordination between the three Mahayuti partners, and the delayed process of finalising the alliance's seat sharing were also pointed out. 

Shiva Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut hit out at Fadnavis on Thursday, calling him the "villain" in Maharashtra politics. "If there is any villain in Maharashtra politics, then it is Devendra Fadnavis. The BJP's drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls is due to Devendra Fadnavis," he said. 

"Fadnavis has destroyed many families and resorted to political vengeance," he alleged.

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