Venkaiah Naidu offers to resign

Bharatiya Janata Party chief M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday offered to resign, accepting moral responsibility for the party's poor showing in Maharashtra assembly elections.

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Naidu made the offer at a meeting of senior leaders of the party at former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's residence on Saturday.

"Yes, it is true Naidu has offered to resign," a senior BJP leader told rediff.com on phone.

He said Naidu's offer will be taken up when senior leaders meet at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Monday. Vajpayee and former deputy prime minister Lal Kishenchad Advani are likely to attend the meeting.

Party sources, however, indicated that Naidu's resignation is unlikely to be accepted in a hurry.