Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan resigned from his post on Friday, a day after the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) withdrew support to his government and reduced it to a minority.
Mr. Chavan submitted his resignation to Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao. “I offered to resign since that is the propriety under such circumstances,” Mr. Chavan told The Hindu. The resignation comes less than three weeks before the State faces Assembly polls.
There is no clarity yet on whether Mr. Chavan has been asked to continue as a caretaker till other arrangements are made.
Sources say Mr. Chavan had sought an appointment with the Governor in the morning and offered to resign. The Governor reportedly forwarded the NCP’s letter withdrawing support to the Congress-NCP government to Mr. Chavan’s office. Mr. Chavan sent in his resignation in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse called on the Governor with the demand for President’s Rule. “This is a minority government and has no right to govern the State. We have asked the Governor to dismiss it and ask for President’s rule,” Mr. Khadse told the media. Sources say the Governor has held consultations on the issue with the Maharashtra Advocate General and has sought legal opinion.
The NCP had withdrawn support to the government shortly after withdrawing from the Congress-NCP alliance.
