Uddhav Thackeray resigns as Chief Minister of Maharashtra & Member of Legislative Council

A day ahead of the Floor Test, having been turned down by the Supreme Court, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray addressed the state through Facebook Live on Wednesday. During his address, Uddhav said that he 'does not want to play the game' of the Floor Test and resigned as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Uddhav also resigned as the Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council.

Uddhav Thackeray handed over his resignation to the Maharashtra Governor at around 11.45 p.m. at the Raj Bhavan. The Governor accepted the resignation of Shri Thackeray and asked him to hold the post till an alternative arrangement is made.

The outgoing Chief Minister expressed his gratitude to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and NCP chief Sharad Pawar for their support. “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 and Congress people also supported the proposal,” the Shiv Sena supremo said, adding that 'bad luck' had stuck the government. 

Outgoing CM attacks Governor

Uddhav said, "Today, judiciary has given its verdict.. We will have to obey the verdict by judciary...Tomorrow, there will be floor test...I express gratitude towards the Governor that someone wrote a letter to him and he ordered Floor Test." Attacking Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, the outgoing CM said, "I hope that you will give nod to the list of names of MLCs pending at your office."

Supreme Court's setback to Uddhav

The Shiv Sena supremo earlier in the day received a letter from Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, asking the government to face a floor test and prove the majority by convening a special session of the state legislature on June 30. As per the letter, the floor test was supposed to start at 11 am and conclude by 5 pm. 

The Maharashtra Governor in his letter wrote, “After having carefully gone through all the material available before me including the reports in electronic and print media. I am of the opinion that a floor test for proving the majority of the chief minister is imperative to ensure that the government continues to function with the confidence of the House.”

A plea was moved in the Supreme Court against Maharashtra Governor’s directions. The vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala in a brief order, said, "We are not staying the Floor Test."