Uddhav Thackeray resigns as Maharashtra CM, quits as MLC too

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray's resignation comes after the Supreme Court allowed the floor test in the state Assembly.

Pic Courtesy: ANI

New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday (June 29) tendered his resignation after the Supreme Court allowed a floor test, ANI reported. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray also announced his resignation from the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) post. Earlier, the Supreme Court had allowed the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday (June 30), wherein the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government would have been required to prove its majority. The apex court also issued notice on Shiv Sena Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu's plea and said it will be subject to the outcome of the present petition. 

In a Facebook live, Uddhav Thackeray also said that he respects the top court's decision not to stay Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's direction to his government to take the floor test. "I had come (to power) in an unexpected manner and I am going out in a similar fashion. 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 the CM & as an MLC," the Shiv Sena chief said. 

“I want to express my gratitude to the people of NCP and Congress that they supported me. From Shiv Sena, Anil Parab, Subhash Desai and Aaditya Thackeray, these people were only present when the proposal was passed while NCP & Cong people also supported the proposal,” ANI quoted Thackeray as saying. 

On the Maharashtra Cabinet changing the names of a few places, Uddhav Thackeray said, “I am satisfied that we have officially renamed Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad to Dharashiv - the cities named by Balasaheb Thackeray.”

He also urged the Sena workers to allow the rebel party legislators to return and not take to the streets in protest. In the evening today, the rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde left Guwahati, where they were camping for over a week, and landed in Goa.

The development comes as the MVA government was unlikely to prove the majority in the Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday as Shinde had claimed the support of 50 MLAs, including Independents. 

(With agency inputs)