Uddhav resigns as CM after SC refuses to stay floor test; BJP likely to form govt on July 1

Mumbai: Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday announced his decision to step down as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra 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 on Thursday.

"What I did (during my tenure) was for Marathi people and Hindutva. There were riots across the country, but Maharashtra was an exception. I would also like to thank my Muslim brethren for listening," he said in his address. Uddhav also thanked his alliance partners Sharad Pawar and Sonia Gandhi for their support towards renaming Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv.

The top court order came after a lengthy hearing on a plea by Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu challenging the Maharashtra Governor's direction to CM Uddhav to face a trust vote. Earlier during the hearing, the top court had observed that the floor of the House was the only way to settle these issues of democracy.

Later in the day, Thackeray went to the Raj Bhavan to submit his resignation to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari as celebrations began at a city hotel where BJP leaders are camping ahead of the trust vote that now stands cancelled.

The Governor has asked him to continue as the CM until an alternate arrangement is made, said Raj Bhavan sources.

BJP leaders were seen distributing sweets, shouting slogans at the Taj Hotel with Devendra Fadnavis at the centre of it all.

According to sources, Fadnavis is likely to take an oath as Maharashtra's Chief Minister on July 1. Rebel leader Eknath Shinde, whose move to walk out with a chunk of MLAs set off the slide, is likely to be his deputy.

Meanwhile, rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, led by Shinde, landed at the Dabolim airport in Goa from Guwahati. A close aide of Shinde said the group will be reaching Mumbai by 9:30 am on Thursday.

Thackeray, who came to power two-and-a-half years ago with the help of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders after severing decades-old ties with the BJP, also quit the post of member of Legislative Council.

"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," he said.

"Let the rebels who grew politically because of Shiv Sena and Balasaheb Thackeray get joy and satisfaction of pulling down his son from the post of Chief Minister," he added.

"I don't want to get into the numbers' game. It would be shameful for me to see if even one of my own party colleagues stands against me," he said.

Referring to the rebels, he said: "What were your problems? Instead of going to Surat and Guwahati, you could have come to me directly and expressed your views. Shiv Sena is a party of the common man and has faced several challenges successfully."

He also maintained: "I thank Shiv Sainiks for standing by me. Those who grew politically because of Shiv Sena were disgruntled, while those who did not get anything were loyal."

Earlier, vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala of the Supreme Court said it was "not staying the floor test as convened by the Governor".

Prabhu had alleged in the Supreme Court that the Maharashtra Governor's direction to the MVA government to take a floor test in the assembly on Thursday was "malafide, unconstitutional, and illegal." The plea challenging the Governor's direction was mentioned before the vacation bench who took note of submissions of senior advocate A M Singhvi that an urgent hearing was needed.

The petition contended that Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari vides communication dated June 28, 2022 (which was received today i.e., on June 29 at about 9:00 am) has decided to hold a floor test in complete defiance of the fact that this court is seized of the issue of the disqualification proceedings.

"Such undue haste is manifestly arbitrary and therefore violative of Article 14," said the plea and sought directions seeking setting aside of the impugned communication sent by the Governor to the Chief Minister as well as to the Secretary of the Assembly.