Maharashtra: Uddhav Steps Down; ‘Sad Day for Us’ Says Rebel MLA, BJP Celebrates

The BJP is expected to form a government, with party workers saying that Devendra Fadnavis will soon helm the state.

Uddhav Thackeray and Devendra Fadnavis.

(Photo: PTI)

After days of turmoil within the Shiv Sena that overturned the fate of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday, 29 June, stepped down as the chief minister of the state following the Supreme Court's order to conduct a floor test on Thursday.

He also resigned from the Member of the Legislative Council (MLC).

"I am giving up the post of the chief minister. All of you gave me your love and blessings and I am thankful for that, but I won't be cowed down or get scared," he said.

In his address to the state via Facebook, Thackeray thanked his party workers, supporters, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and the Congress party for supporting him while his "own people betrayed and backstabbed him and the Shiv Sena."

Thackeray also appealed to all party workers to maintain peace on Thursday and not create hurdles for the rebel leaders who are scheduled to return to the state tomorrow.

"I want to tell all rebel MLAs that you come, take the oath and attend the floor test without any worry," he said.

After the resignation, rebel Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar, speaking on behalf of the Eknath Shinde camp, said that the news of Thackeray's resignation was a sad one for them. Kesarkar blamed Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut, along with the Congress and the NCP for the crisis.

Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had written to the Maharashtra Assembly Secretary Rajendra Bhagwat on Wednesday, calling for a special session at 11 am on Thursday for the Uddhav Thackeray-led government to prove its majority.

Following this, the Sena moved the Supreme Court against the floor test order issued by Koshyari. However, the court refused to stay the order.

What Came Of the Supreme Court? 

While the Supreme Court refused to stay the floor test ordered by Maharashtra governor Koshyari against the Sena-NCP-Congress government, the court did add that it was issuing notice in the petitions, and that the proceedings of the floor test would be subject to the final outcome in the writ petition filed by Sena Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu.

Appearing for Prabhu, senior advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi asked, "Will heavens fall if there is no floor test tomorrow?"

He also informed the court that two NCP MLAs had tested positive for COVID-19 whereas two Congress MLAs were abroad. Thus, they cannot be expected to be available for the floor test at one day's notice.

Meanwhile Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for Eknath Shinde, argued in the court:

"It is well settled that a floor test should not be delayed. Merely because of pendency of proceedings relating to whether MLA has resigned or 10th schedule is no ground to interdict floor test. Supreme Court has held both are distinct issues."

Appearing for the Maharashtra Governor, the Solicitor General added, "The Governor has taken into consideration various letters sent to him. In totality, he is satisfied...that you have to immediately go to the floor of the house."

The top court bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala also allowed incarcerated NCP leaders Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh to participate in the floor test. Since they are in judicial custody in cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), respectively, both the agencies have been asked to escort them and bring them back to judicial custody once the proceedings are over.

Heavy reliance was placed during the course of the hearing on the Supreme Court’s decision in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan case where the Supreme Court had ordered a floor test in Madhya Pradesh (MP) Assembly in 2020.

While Kaul cited it to argue that disqualification proceedings have no bearing on the floor test, Singhvi's contention was that even though the Supreme Court had, in that case, held that floor test can be conducted before disqualifications are decided, the significant difference was that the MP Speaker was a "free agent".

Key Highlights From Uddhav Thackeray's Resignation Address 

• The ones we gave our all to betrayed us, and the ones we fought against for years stood by the Shiv Sena.

• I thank the Governor for upholding democracy and ordering floor test urgently.

• If the rebel MLAs had placed demands directly before me and not gone to Surat or any other state, this could have been handled better.

• I want to tell all rebel MLAs that nobody is going to stop you from coming to the state or create hurdle for you.

• I don't want to get into who has how many MLAs in which party, but I will only see how many of my people went against me.

• If they get some satisfaction by seeing the son of Bal Thackeray being ousted as the chief minister, so be it. They can consider it to be their achievement.

• I am not saddened for leaving the CM post.
  

'Sad News For Us,' say Rebel MLAs as BJP celebrate Thackrey's Resignation

One of the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, Bharat Gogawale, on Wednesday night said they will hold meetings at a five-star hotel in Goa where they are staying for the night and discuss their next steps Thackeray's resignation.

"It is not like we are very happy with the decision of Uddhav Thackeray stepping down as the CM. We are heading towards our hotel. Once we reach there, we will discuss the issue and decide our next steps. He (Thackeray) tried to convince us," Gogawale said.

Rebel leader Deepak Kesarkar said, "This is a sad news for us. Along with the NCP and the Congress, Sanjay Raut is responsible for this. His comments widened the divide between the Centre and the state and Maharashtra had to suffer for it," he told ABP Majha.

Kesarkar further said that the allies made constant efforts to sideline the Shiv Sena.

"He [Uddhav Thackeray] respected Pawar's words more than ours since he is a senior leader. But he never understood that Pawar will think only for his party and not ours. This is the result of it," Kesarkar said.

"None of the Sena MLAs asked for his resignation, but Pawar did. Pawar made it a legal battle and got disqualification processes initiated against us. Was a Shiv Sainik more important or Pawar?" he asked.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said that the CM's resignation is not a cause for celebration, adding that this would not have happened if the Shiv Sena would not have joined hands with the Congress and the NCP.

"If they would not have gone with the Congress and NCP and held on to the Hindutva agenda, this would not have happened. They formed an unsustainable alliance," he said.

"I want to appeal to all the BJP workers across the state that victory must be accepted with humility. Uddhav thackeray's resignation is no cause to celebrate," he added.

Several BJP legislators and senior leaders gathered at the residence of former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, while several leaders including state unit president Chandrakant Patil, congratulated each other on the collapse of the Shiv Sena-led MVA government.

What's on the cards? 

Given Uddhav Thackeray’s resignation, the floor test will not take place. Instead, the BJP is expected to form a government, with party workers stating that Devendra Fadnavis will soon helm the state.

BJP leader Fadnavis and rebel Sena leader Eknath Shinde will now decide the next court of action, state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said on Wednesday night.

The rebel Sena MLAs and leaders led by Shinde arrived in Goa on Wednesday night after camping in Guwahati for over a week.

Meanwhile, the mood at the BJP office in Mumbai was celebratory following Thackeray's resignation with chants in support of former CM Devendra Fadnavis.

After maintaining that the BJP had nothing to do with the crisis and had not contacted Shinde at any point, Patil on Wednesday said that the rebel Sena leaders should return to Mumbai only on the "day of oath-taking". Fadnavis said that he will speak to the media on the party's strategy on Thursday.

To a question about the BJP's next move, as it is the single largest party in the Maharashtra legislative assembly, Patil said, "The next steps will be decided by Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde." He also said BJP workers "should observe restraint in victory."

Fadnavis told reporters, "I will tell the party's stand tomorrow for sure." There will be another round of meeting at the official residence of Fadnavis later tonight, sources said.

(With inputs from PTI)