As Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stands firm on his decision to resign, taking responsibility for the NDA's poor performance in the state, Home Minister Amit Shah has asked him to continue his work in the government. 

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Mr Fadnavis, a former chief minister, is part of the Maharashtra government with the Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The undivided Shiv Sena and the BJP had won 41 of the state's 48 between them in 2019, but the new coalition - called the Mahayuti in Maharashtra secured only 17 this time. 

The Maha Vikas Aghadi, consisting of the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), has won in 30 constituencies. 

Fadnavis proposed to resign on Wednesday, a day after the counting of votes, and several BJP leaders have spoken to him since. After the NDA meeting, he spoke with fellow Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to discuss the coalition's performance in the state. 

In 2019, the BJP managed to win nine Lok Sabha seats in the state, as against 22 won in the elections, while the Shinde-led Shiv Sena emerged victorious on seven seats and Ajit Pawar-led NCP could win one seat. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition had won 41 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra.

“I will speak to Devendraji soon,” Shinde told reporters here when asked about Fadnavis’ offer to resign as deputy chief minister and focus on rebuilding the party for the assembly elections later this year.

He said the reasons for the defeat of the MahaYuti will be reviewed.

He said the ruling coalition of BJP-Shiv Sena and NCP collectively failed to counter the opposition’s misleading claims during the election campaign. “The false narrative that the constitution will be changed hurt us,” he said.

(with inputs from PTI)