By Our Special Correspondent
Uddhav Thackeray resigned as Maharashtra chief minister on Wednesday, minutes after the Supreme Court refused to stall a floor test that his Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was set to lose, ending a crisis that erupted last week after dozens of Shiv Sena lawmakers rebelled against his authority.
Maharashtra Assembly at 11 am on Thursday morning should go ahead as scheduled. Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had directed Mr Thackeray’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to hold a confidence vote on Thursday, but this will not be needed now.
The celebrations began at the BJP office in Mumbai and Eknath Shinde’s rebel camp in Goa almost immediately after Mr Thackeray resigned. BJP leader Chandrakant Patil said his party will hold talks with Eknath Shinde and then decide their future course of action.
“I had come (to power) in an unexpected manner and I am going out in a similar fashion,” said Thackeray, dressed in a bright yellow kurta. “I am not going away forever, I will be here, and I will once again sit in Shiv Sena Bhawan. I will gather all my people. I am resigning as CM and MLC,” he added.
Addressing the state virtually on Facebook Live, Mr Thackeray also said he was resigning as a member of the Legislative Council. “In a democracy, heads are counted to show numbers. I am not interested in that. I don’t want to play these games. Tomorrow, they will say that they have brought down Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray’s son,” he said, while addressing the people of the state.
The dramatic resignation brings down the curtain on the MVA government that came together in 2019 and the focus shifts to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that is set to form the next government in the state, likely with the support of 39 rebel Sena lawmakers, led by state urban development minister Eknath Shinde.
In a sarcastic comment, the outgoing CM also thanked the governor for his commitment to securing democracy and calling a floor test within 24 hours of receiving a letter from some MLAs. He recalled that the governor has not taken a decision on the 12 names recommended for the MLC post for one and a half years.
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