Ajit Pawar resigns as Maharashtra deputy CM

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has resigned, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday.

"Ajit dada has resigned and he is with us. Uddhav Thackeray will be the chief minister of Maharashtra for five years," Raut said.

In a dramatic twist to political events in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari as the next chief minister early on Saturday morning, Ajit Pawar as his deputy.

Koshyari administered the oath of office to the two leaders in a hush hush ceremony at the Raj Bhavan, setting off political ripples across parties in the state.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should resign as the Uddhav Thackeray's party-led coalition has the support of "162 MLAs" to prove majority in the Maharashtra assembly.

He claimed that during the floor test, the 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' of the Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress will have the support of "170 legislators".

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that a floor test for Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to prove his majority in the assembly be conducted on Wednesday.

The BJP and the Sena, which fought the last month's assembly polls in an alliance, secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats respectively.

The Sena, however, broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister's post.

The NCP and Congress won 54 and 44 seats respectively.