Uddhav Thackeray resigns as Maharashtra chief minister hours ahead of trust vote
Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday resigned as the chief minister of Maharashtra soon after the Supreme Court cleared the deck for a trust vote in the Assembly on Thursday.
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Addressing the state virtually, Thackeray said he will also resign as the member of legislative council. “In a democracy, heads are counted to show numbers. I am not interested in that. Tomorrow, they will say that they have brought down Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray's son,” he said.
Thackeray thanked Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar for being by the Shiv Sena's side.
“While taking a decision on renaming Aurangabad, the NCP and Congress did not oppose it. But what I feel bad is that only four Shiv Sena Ministers were present. Others we all know where they are.”
“The Supreme Court has given the verdict on the floor test. I want to thank the governor who upheld the democracy by asking us to hold a floor test in 24 hours after a delegation met them.”
Addressing MLAs whose rebellion, led by Eknath Shinde triggered the currnt crisis for his government, Thackeray said.,"Who are you angry with me? Congress or NCP? Rather than going to Surat and speaking up you should have come to me at Matoshree. I still respect your feelings."
The Supreme Court said a floor test is the only way to settle all issues that have entangled the politics of Maharashtra following a rebellion by Sena leader Eknath Shinde leading to a survival crisis of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
The top court gave the verdict after hearing arguments on a petition filed by the Maharashtra government challenging governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's order asking the chief minister to prove his majority in the floor of the Assembly.
The top court said results of floor test will be subject to the final outcome of Sena Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu Prabhu's petition against the governor's decision and issued a notice on the plea.
Earlier in the day, Thackeray held a cabinet meeting wherein a decision was taken to rename Aurangabad city as Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad city as Dharashiv, besides naming of upcoming Navi Mumbai international airport after farmer leader late DB Patil.
