Maharashtra CM should have resigned after BJP won three RS seats: Athawale

JAMMU: Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Saturday said Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddav Thackeray should have resigned after the opposition BJP won three Rajya Sabha seats from the state.

He also claimed that Shiv Sena leaders and activists are not happy with the leadership over the party's alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

In a major setback to Maharashtra's ruling alliance of the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won three of the six Rajya Sabha seats from the state on Saturday, even as the ruling combine questioned the eight-hour delay in the counting of votes.

"The BJP has given a severe jolt to the Maha Vikas Aghadi. It is such a jolt that Uddav Thackeray has no right to remain in power. When they have lost, they should have resigned on their own," the Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment told reporters here.

He said one is declared a winner even if the margin is one vote or two votes.

"Former prime minister of the BJP Atal Vihari Bajpayee lost power by just one vote (during a no-confidence motion in 1999). They (Maha Vikas Aghadi) made all-out efforts to defeat the BJP candidates who, however, emerged successful as there is a lot of resentment among the Shiv Sena leaders and activists against the party leadership over the alliance with the Congress and the NCP," Athawale said.

He claimed that Thackeray is not taking note of the resentment within his party.