Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray Wednesday announced his decision to step down as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
The announcement was made via Facebook Live shortly after the Supreme Court ordered the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take a floor test to prove its majority in the Assembly tomorrow.
“We respect the Supreme Court judgment. Democracy must be followed,” Uddhav Thackeray said. He then left for the Governor’s residence to hand over his resignation.
Thackeray’s seeking of court intervention was an attempt to buy time. A total of 39 MLAs from his own party have turned against him, led by Eknath Shinde, a senior Sena leader.
Shinde contend that his faction – far larger in size than the Chief Minister’s – is now the real Shiv Sena and that the party must exit the current government, which includes the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP as its allies, and re-enter its earlier partnership with the BJP.
Shinde is going to be offered the job of Deputy Chief Minister with the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis preparing to stake claim to the government, according to sources.
