Mumbai, May 19 (NDTV): A Congress leader in Maharashtra has openly demanded Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's resignation after the party's rout in the national election.
Deepak Mankar, the former deputy mayor of Pune, has said that Mr Chavan should step down owning moral responsibility for the Congress defeat in the state.
The Congress has won just two seats in Maharashtra and its ally NCP has won four of the state's 48 seats. The BJP and its ally Shiv Sena have won 42.
Mr Chavan, 68, has been under pressure as the Congress did not win a single seat in western Maharashtra, his stronghold.
Calls to hold the Chief Minister accountable have become louder after Nitish Kumar resigned as Bihar Chief Minister on Saturday, taking responsibility for his Janata Dal United party's drubbing.
Sources close to Mr Chavan say he has taken responsibility for defeat, but it is up to the party leadership to decide if he needs to resign.
The state's BJP leaders have demanded that the assembly elections, due by October this year, be advanced, as the ruling coalition has "lost the people's mandate."
"If Nitish Kumar can resign then why can't Prithviraj Chavan? People have rejected him as well, he must resign on moral grounds," Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said.
The Congress-NCP combine, which has ruled the state since 1999, has blamed massive anti-incumbency for their defeat. In the past few years, the government has been battling a slew of corruption charges.
Mr Chavan took over as chief minister in 2010, replacing Ashok Chavan, who was accused of a role in the Adarsh scandal, or the illegal allotment of flats in a Mumbai housing society meant for defence personnel.