Can resign but will next CM be a Sainik: Uddhav
MUMBAI: The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was battling for its political survival on Wednesday as chief minister Uddhav Thackeray made a last-ditch emotive appeal to rebel lawmakers who are threatening to pull down his government and shatter the three-party ruling alliance.
Thackeray’s speech, broadcast live on social media, came on a day marked by high drama as rebel MLAs – led by his onetime lieutenant and state urban development minister Eknath Shinde – flew from Surat to Guwahati under police protection, and gained in strength.
“If any of them (rebel MLAs) come to me or even give out a statement, and say that they do not want me as CM, I am ready to resign... I am preparing my resignation letter,” he said, breaking his silence on the biggest crisis of his career. “But can they guarantee that the next CM will be a Sainik?”
The message appeared to be directed at Shinde, who is tipped to become deputy CM in case he sides with the BJP and manages to get the rebels needed to split the Sena without attracting disqualification.
In Mumbai, an increasingly desperate Thackeray remained huddled in meetings with coalition partners, and in the evening, moved out of the CM’s residence to family home Matoshree, the seat of Sena power and the residence of his father, Balasaheb Thackeray, ostensibly in a bid to be seen as the rightful heir to his legacy.
Television beamed visuals of Thackeray and his family driving out of Varsha bungalow as crowds of Sena supporters jostled to catch a glimpse, and reaching Matoshree amid a throng of people, even as the government inched closer to collapse as two more Sena legislators joined the rebel camp in Guwahati late in the evening.
Shinde remained adamant that Sena needs to snap ties with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress to quell dissidence.“It’s essential to get out of the unnatural alliance for the survival of the party. Decisions need to be taken now in the interest of Maharashtra,” tweeted Shinde in Marathi.