Maharashtra election results 2024: Devendra Fadnavis takes ‘responsibility for loss’, offers to quit as Deputy CM

Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra Deputy chief minister and BJP leader, takes responsibility for the drubbing loss in the state in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and urged the senior leadership to ‘to relieve me from the responsibility of the government’

Fadnavis said on Wednesday, "I take full responsibility for the BJP's defeat in Maharashtra. I fell short in some places, and the setback in Maharashtra is my fault.

"To focus on the next assembly elections and fix the shortcomings, I request the top brass of my party to relieve me of my government duties. I will meet my seniors and communicate my expectations to them," Fadnavis said while addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in Mumbai.

Fadnavis said he would hold discussions with his seniors, he further noted, "There were some issues of coordination with chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, which we will meet and discuss soon."

Commenting on the statement, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare says, "The party may take action against Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Devendra Ji. But he wants a dignified exit so he is taking a protective stand..."

BJP win 9 seats in Maharashtra in Lok Sabha polls

Earlier in the day, meeting of the Maharashtra unit of the BJP took place in Mumbai, a day after the party won nine Lok Sabha seats in the state, where its tally dwindled by 14 as compared to the 2019 parliamentary polls. Fadnavis and the party's state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule are among the leaders who are attended the meeting, party sources said.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had won 23 seats in Maharashtra. This time, the BJP and allies won 17 seats out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, with the BJP's tally dwindling by less than half compared to 2019, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) won 30 of the 48 seats.

The BJP-led NDA fell significantly short of its target of bagging 45-plus seats in Maharashtra, garnering just 17 seats. The Congress won 13 seats, a quantum jump from the solitary seat it won in the state in 2019, while Shiv Sena (UBT) won nine and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) got eight seats.

(With inputs from agencies)