Mumbai: As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saw a massive decline in its seat share in the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra, state deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday took the responsibility for party's abysmal performance and urged the top leadership to relieve him of ministerial duties so that he could work for the party.
"Whatever loss we suffered in the LS polls in Maharashtra, I take full responsibility for it. Therefore, I urge the top leadership to relieve me of my ministerial duties for I need to work for the party and contribute my time to the preparations of the state assembly polls", Fadnavis said while addressing the media in Maharashtra's Mumbai.
"Farmers' issues played a dominant role in some seats. Also, the false propaganda that the constitution would be altered impacted some voters. The outright votes of the Muslims and the Maratha movement has an impact", he added.
The BJP dipped to nine seats in Maharashtra against 23 in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The vote share stood at 26.18%. The Congress, on the other hand, marginally improved its seat share by securing 13 seats in the state.
Meanwhile, the state deputy CM also expressed gratitude towards the people of the country.
"I thank the people of the country who allowed Modiji (PM Narendra Modi) to take oath as the Prime Minister for the third time. The NDA performed well in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh as well. I thank people for that", he said.
Taking a swipe at the INDIA bloc, Fadnavis added, "The BJP alone has gained more seats than the INDIA bloc. The propaganda that the constitution would be changed was disseminated by them. We needed to curb it which we couldn't".
The BJP victory tally was much lower than its 2019 tally of 303 and the 282 seats it had won in 2014. The Congress, on the other hand, registered a strong growth, winning 99 seats compared to 52 that it had won in 2019 and 44 seats in 2014. The INDIA bloc crossed the 230 mark, posing stiff competition, and defying all predictions from exit polls.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured a third term, along with the support of other parties in the coalition, primarily -- the Nitish Kumar led JD(U) and the Chandrababu Naidu led TDP.
The BJP fell 32 seats short of the 272 majority mark after votes polled in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were counted. For the first time, since the Bharatiya Janata Party swept to power in 2014, it did not secure a majority on its own.
—ANI