The first signs of a churn in the BJP emerged a day after the electoral blow to the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duopoly, with Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis owning responsibility for the party’s poor showing and offering to step down.

BJP sources suggested Fadnavis’s move — coming against the backdrop of murmurs in the party ranks about holding Modi and Shah accountable for the poor general election results — could be an indirect nudge to the top two to accept responsibility.

“I take responsibility for such (poor) results in Maharashtra. I was leading the party. I am requesting the BJP high command to relieve me of the responsibility of government so that I can work hard for the party (keeping in mind) the upcoming elections,” Fadnavis told reporters in Mumbai on Wednesday after a party meeting to review the poor showing.

The BJP on Tuesday secured just 240 seats, falling far short of the majority mark of 272, following a particularly dismal performance in heartland Uttar Pradesh, a BJP-ruled state where Modi’s constituency of Varanasi lies.

In Maharashtra, the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP Mahayuti won just 17 of the 48 seats, with the BJP reduced to 9 from its 2019 tally of 23.

Fadnavis said he wanted the leadership to allow him to focus on taking “corrective measures” to strengthen the party ahead of the Assembly elections in Maharashtra later this year.

Fadnavis had been sulking for the past two years since the BJP’s top leadership — that is, Modi and Shah — virtually forced him to accept rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde as chief minister.

Having led a government of the BJP and the united Shiv Sena in the past, Fadnavis had initially (in June 2022) refused to become Shinde’s deputy. But he accepted the job grudgingly after a stern message from Delhi.

Following Tuesday’s election results that made a mockery of Modi’s “400-plus seats” bluster, Fadnavis appears to have mustered the courage to hit back.

“By taking responsibility for the party’s disastrous show in Maharashtra and offering to step down, Fadnavis could actually be pointing fingers at the top leadership,” a BJP leader in Delhi said.

He underlined that the top leadership had so far sought to project the electoral setback as a “historic victory”.

Privately, many party leaders said the “top leadership” — a reference to the Modi-Shah duopoly — had dominated candidate selection and had in many instances brushed aside objections from the state units.

However, Sanjay Raut, a leader of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) that is an INDIA partner, suggested Fadnavis’s offer to step down was a drama scripted by the top leadership to trap Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

Adityanath is widely seen as Shah’s rival in the race to become Modi’s designated successor.

“Fadnavis’s offer to resign is a step to put pressure on Yogi. If the BJP is defeated in Maharashtra under Fadnavis’s leadership, then in Uttar Pradesh it has been defeated under Yogi’s leadership. That’s why Fadnavis is talking about resignation,” Raut told reporters.

However, asked whether Adityanath could be made to own responsibility for the party’s poor performance in his state, a key BJP leader said the top leadership “can’t afford to hold Yogi responsible”.

“Most of the candidates in Uttar Pradesh were decided by the central leadership. Yogiji’s suggestions and reservations were summarily ignored. How can you then hold him responsible?” this leader, known to be close to Adityanath, said.

At the BJP headquarters on Tuesday, many junior leaders and workers had appeared pleased at the jolt suffered by the party and accused the “top leadership” of selecting weak candidates, ignoring the sentiments of the grass-root workers.

“I had personally gone around Amethi and communicated to the leadership that there was simmering voter anger against Smriti Irani, but my advice was ignored. I was told that this was Modi’s election and people would not bother about who the candidate was,” a BJP leader said.

A key party worker vented anger at the BJP’s induction of hordes of “discredited Congress leaders” into its fold.

“How can one expect BJP and RSS cadres to work hard for a leader they had fought against for years?” the party worker said, adding that the “top leadership” should now be held accountable.