Devendra Fadnavis resigns as Maharashtra CM

He met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to hand over his resignation.

Fadnavis made the move just hours before the midnight deadline for government formation ends.

Speaking during a press conference, Fadnavis said the Governor has accepted his resignation.

The ongoing political logjam in Maharashtra found no breakthrough even on Thursday as Shiv Sena dared its bigger ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to prove majority in the assembly, remaining firm in its demand of rotational Chief Ministership.

The day began with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray calling all his party MLAs for a meeting following which the newly-elected legislators were parked at a Mumbai hotel, reminding the days of resort politics seen in Karnataka last year.

Briefing media post-meeting, Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, "If they have a majority, let them prove in the assembly. These games will not be successful this time. People of Maharashtra will soon get a government they have voted for. The Chief Minister will be from Shiv Sena. We have our alternatives. We have formed an alliance on the basis of the deal."

However, the BJP, which is also showing no sign to budge down, claimed the Chief Minister will be from the saffron party.

Following the poll results in Maharashtra, the Sena demanded not only the rotational Chief Ministership but also 50:50 power share in the government, all of which have been turned down by the BJP which has won 105 seats. The Sena won 56 seats.

The Sena's mild push to form a non-BJP government in the state was crushed on Wednesday with the refusal of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar to join the BJP's ally.

The Congress, which has 44 seats under its belt, has also distanced itself from the Sena.

The Sena was looking to cobble up the required number by adding NCP's 54 and Congress' 44.