Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday resigned as the chief minister of Maharashtra, three days after he took oath. The development came after NCP’s rebel leader Ajit Pawar announced his resignation as Deputy Chief Minister.
Forced to face a trust vote on the floor of the Maharashtra assembly on Wednesday to prove it had the majority, the BJP found itself wanting for numbers and decided to pull the plug on its bid for power.
Addressing media in Mumbai, Fadnavis announced he would tender his resignation to Governor BS Koshyari since the BJP was not in a position to form the government. He said that the people’s mandate was for ‘Mahayuti’.
But he isn’t alone. Political machinations during government formation have served up several such situations in India, where chief ministers have held power for as little as one day.
Here are some of India’s shortest serving chief ministers:
Jagdambika Pal
The 1998 elections in Uttar Pradesh turned up high drama, that eventually lead to Jagdambika Pal becoming a ‘shortest’ serving chief minister.
When, the Uttar Pradesh state government led by Kalyan Singh was dismissed on 21 February 1998 by Governor of Uttar Pradesh Romesh Bhandari, he became the Chief Minister. Kalyan Singh moved Allahabad High Court which termed the dismissal of government unconstitutional on 23 February 1998, thereby reinstating the Kalyan Singh government.
Satish Prasad Singh
He was the Chief Minister of Bihar for a very brief tenure of just five days in 1968. He headed a coalition government led by Soshit Samaj Dal and supported by the Indian National Congress. He was the first Chief Minister of Bihar who belonged to an other backward class.
In Meghalaya, veteran Congress leader SC Marak was once in power only for thirteen days, from February 27, 1998 to March 10, 1998.
SC Marak
He became the state’s chief minister on February 27, 1998 but could continue for just 12 days when his Congress-led coalition resigned, paving way for United Parliamentary Forum leader BB Lyngdoh to become the next CM.
Janaki Ramachandran
Janaki was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for 23 days, from January 7, 1988 to January 30 of the same month. When her husband Ramachandran died in 1987, Janaki was asked by party members to take his place. Janaki’s bid was accepted by the then governor of Tamil Nadu, Sunder Lal Khurana, who swore her in as the chief minister and allowed her three weeks to prove her majority
CH Mohammad Koya
Cheriyan Kandi Muhammad Koya was an Indian politician and journalist who served as the eighth Chief Minister of Kerala from October 12 to December 1, 1979.
His tenure lasted only 45 days, making him the shortest serving CM of the state and its only Muslim one. However, in the next United Democratic Front(UDF) government headed by K Karunakaran which was formed, Koya served as Deputy Chief Minister.
