Ajit Pawar resigns as Deputy CM of Maharastra ahead of floor test

Mumbai:  Ajit Pawar on Tuesday resigned from the post of Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra ahead of the floor test scheduled to be held in the state assembly tomorrow, said sources.

Pawar was sworn-in as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state on Saturday morning.

The decision invoked vociferous criticism from the opposition which later moved to Supreme Court.

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Earlier in the day, a three-judge bench headed by Justice Ramana passed the order for conducting floor test by tomorrow evening while giving a decision on a joint petition filed by Congress-Shiv Sena and NCP against Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's decision of administering an oath to Fadnavis as Chief Minister and NCP's Ajit Pawar as his deputy during early hours of Saturday.

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The Fadnavis government was formed at a time when deliberations among the three parties on government formation.

Meanwhile, NCP had replaced nephew of Sharad Pawar as legislature party leader with Jayant Patil. NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said that the decision of his nephew Ajit Pawar to align with BJP was against the party line and any MLA who aligns with him is likely to face anti-defection law.

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On Monday, NCP legislative party leader Jayant Patil along with Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan and others visited Raj Bhawan and gave a letter showing the strength of 162 MLAs to the officials at Raj Bhavan.

Also Read: Fadnavis takes oath as Maharashtra CM; NCP's Ajit Pawar becomes Deputy CM 

The BJP won 105 seats in the 288-member assembly followed by Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54 and Congress 44. (ANI)

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