Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah met this morning, immediately after the Supreme Court ordered Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to prove his majority tomorrow, sources say. Not long after that meeting, Devendra Fadnavis resigned as Chief Minister.

The two top leaders of the ruling BJP reportedly discussed the options after the Supreme Court order, whether Devendra Fadnavis should face the test of strength or whether he should quit.

The supreme Court had ordered the Fadnavis government to face a floor test "immediately", saying if it was delayed, "there is a possibility of horse-trading, it becomes incumbent upon the Court to act to protect democratic values".

PM Modi and Amit Shah, who were at a function in parliament to mark the Constitution Day, met soon after to discuss the verdict.

Mr Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) were sworn in on Saturday morning in a deeply controversial oath ceremony that suddenly flashed on TV screens a few minutes before 8 am.

To facilitate the unscheduled oath, a central government order revoking President's Rule in Maharashtra was issued at 5.47 am after PM Modi used a rare clause to approve it without consulting the cabinet.

The manner in which the government formation took place was challenged by the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance in the Supreme Court. 

The BJP claimed it had handed the Governor a letter of support from 170 MLAs before being invited to form government.

After joining hands with the BJP, Ajit Pawar had claimed the support of all 54 MLAs of his party NCP, but his uncle Sharad Pawar had contested it.

Over the past three days, however, NCP MLAs who had gone "missing" returned, some of them accusing Ajit Pawar of misleading them.

Yesterday, the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine paraded their MLAs at a five-star hotel in Mumbai and said, "We have 162."