New Delhi: Following Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s resignation late Wednesday night, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is reportedly gearing up to stake its claim for the formation of a new government in the state on Thursday, June 30.
Shortly after the Supreme Court, on Wednesday, ruled that it would not intervene in governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s order that the ruling MVA government in the state will have to take a floor test on Thursday, Thackeray appeared on Facebook Live to announce his resignation.
With his resignation, the floor test is no longer required, opening up the floor for other parties to stake their claim to form a new government.
Maharashtra Assembly Secretary Rajendra Bhagwat informs all state MLAs that as per Governor’s orders, there’s no need for a floor test now, so today’s special session will not be convened
Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as Maharashtra CM & from his MLC post, yesterday
Advertisement— ANI (@ANI) June 30, 2022
Following the chief minister’s announcement, BJP members began distributing sweets and celebrating at the Taj President hotel in Mumbai.
The Twitter handle of the Maharashtra BJP even shared a video of former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis along with the words, “I will come again for the formation of a new Maharashtra” in Marathi.
मी पुन्हा येईन …..
नव महाराष्ट्राच्या निर्मितीसाठी!जय महाराष्ट्र 🚩🚩@Dev_Fadnavis pic.twitter.com/XtW9kylO2e
— भाजपा महाराष्ट्र (@BJP4Maharashtra) June 29, 2022
According to a report by the Indian Express, BJP top brass is expected to hold a meeting today to plot the next course of action. The party is likely to seek to form government under the leadership of Fadnavis, with Eknath Shinde, the leader of the rebel Shiv Sena camp, to be named deputy chief minister.
The BJP is the single-largest party in the 287-seat Maharashtra assembly with 106 seats. With the support of the 39 rebel MLAs in Shinde’s camp, that figure would cross the threshold of 144 seats for majority. The incumbent MVA coalition had a total of 152 seats before the split within the Shiv Sena, with the Sena having 55 seats, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) having 53 and the Congress having 44.
Apart from this, independents and those belonging to smaller parties account for 29 seats in the assembly.
Also read: ‘My Own People Let Me Down’: Uddhav Thackeray Resigns After SC Refuses to Stay Floor Test
After the party approaches Koshyari for the formation of a new government, that government will have to take a floor test in order to ascertain its majority in the house. However, the fate of the rebel MLAs is, as yet, unknown.
Despite participating in the celebrations, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakanth Patil preached caution, warning his fellow party members to celebrate only once Fadnavis has been made the chief minister of the state.
Thackeray had tendered his resignation to governor Koshyari close to midnight on Wednesday, which the governor accepted, asking him to stay on as the caretaker chief minister until an alternate arrangement is made.
#WATCH Mumbai | Uddhav Thackeray submits his resignation as Maharashtra CM to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who has asked him to continue as CM until an alternate arrangement is made: Raj Bhavan pic.twitter.com/lmEzl8ghBY
— ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022
During his Facebook Live address, Thackeray had said that he was resigning because he did not want a hand in “the blood of Shiv Sainiks that will be spilled tomorrow,” according to NDTV. He further commented on the rebel Sena MLAs, saying they “betrayed” the party.
