NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis from the western Indian state of Maharashtra on Wednesday (Jun 5) offered to step down from the position of the state's deputy chief minister owing to the party's dismal performance there in Lok Sabha elections.

The former state chief minister took responsibility for the poor show and urged the party's top leadership to relieve him of his duties so that he could focus on strengthening the party's organisational structure ahead of the state assembly elections slated to be held later this year.

While talking to the media earlier today, Fadnavis said, "I take responsibility for such results in Maharashtra. I was leading the party. I am requesting the BJP high command to relieve me from the responsibility of the government so that I can work hard for the party in the upcoming elections."

State assembly elections in Maharashtra will be held in November this year.

Fadnavis's statement came after he and BJP state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule attended a party meeting in Maharashtra to analyse the poor performance.

The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) gave the state BJP a run for its money in the Lok Sabha elections, the results for which were announced on Tuesday (Jun 4).

BJP had set an ambitious target of sweeping all 48 seats of the state but it managed to get only nine, a drop of 14 seats when compared with the 2019 election results.

The opposition MVA meanwhile punched above its weight and bagged a whopping 30 seats. Out of these 30 seats, 13 are won by Congress, nine by the Shiv Sena (UBT) and eight by NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar). 

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will be forming government at the centre as they have won 292 seats in the country, 20 above the majority mark of 272. The opposition INDIA bloc meanwhile gained strength this time and won 234 seats.