Ahead of Maharashtra floor test, Ajit Pawar resigns as Deputy chief minister?

NCP’s Ajit Pawar has resigned as deputy chief minister of Maharashtra just three days after he was sworn-in. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is also expected to step down. 

The turn of events took place just hours after the Supreme Court had ordered a floor test on November 27 at 5pm in the presence of a Protem Speaker. 

On Saturday morning, Devendra Fadnavis was sworn-in as the Maharashtra Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar as his deputy after the latter led a faction of NCP to unite with the BJP and form the government in the state.

Official confirmation on resignations are still awaited, however, DD News, NDTV and News18 have reported that Pawar has actually submitted his resignation to Fadnavis. 

However, reports also suggest that Pawar's son has denied reports claiming that his father has stepped down.

According to reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah reportedly met after the Supreme Court verdict, to discuss the next course of action by the BJP. 

Meanwhile, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will hold a media briefing at 3.30 pm today.

MLAs of NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress to hold a joint meeting at 5 pm today to elect the leader of their alliance. The combine had on Saturday night filed a petition seeking quashing of the Maharashtra governor's decision and demanded an immediate floor test to avoid "further horse trading". 

The three parties also sought a direction to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to invite them to form government under the leadership of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying they have the support of over 160 MLAs.

Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut has stated that party chief Uddhav Thackeray will go on to become Maharashtra's chief minister and will comfortably complete five years as the CM. Raut also iterated that Ajit Pawar is on their side. 
 

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