Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray resigned on Wednesday, minutes after the Supreme Court ruled that he must prove tomorrow that his government still has a majority.
Mr Thackeray announced he was stepping down in an online address. “We respect the Supreme Court judgment. Democracy must be followed,” Uddhav Thackeray said.
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra and his team, reduced to just about 15 MLAs, had asked the court to stop the floor test called tomorrow by the Governor of the state.
The Supreme Court, however, said that the result of the vote tomorrow will be subject to its verdict on July 11, when it will decide whether a section of MLAs from the Sena should be disqualified, as requested by Mr Thackeray’s side.
Mr Thackeray’s seeking of court intervention was an attempt to buy time. A total of 39 MLAs from his own party have turned against him, led by Eknath Shinde, a senior Sena leader.
They contend that their faction – far larger in size than the Chief Minister’s – is now the real Shiv Sena and that the party must exit the current government, which includes the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP as its allies, and re-enter its earlier partnership with the BJP.
Eight days ago, Mr Shinde launched a revolt by exiting Mumbai late at night with a cohort of MLAs. They headed to Surat in Gujarat, clearly guided by the BJP. A day later, they flew to Guwahati after Mr Thackeray’s representatives managed to meet with some of them.
In Guwahati, their number grew in high velocity, eventually totalling 39, enough to split the party and ensure Mr Thackeray’s removal, not just as Chief Minister, but as President of the party his father founded.
Combined with the BJP and the support of a few independent MLAs, Mr Shinde’s side will outnumber the ruling government in a vote.
Mr Thackeray, two days after the revolt began, moved out of the Chief Minister’s home to make good on a promise he made in a Facebook live to the rebels – that he was wedded to his party and not to power.