Post-SC verdict, 'reluctant CM' Thackeray quits top post, MLC seat
Darpan News Desk IANS, 29 Jun, 2022 05:56 PM
Mumbai, June 29 (IANS) On expected lines, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray late on Wednesday quit his post and also as Member of Legislative Council - 9 days after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was reduced to a minority with an unprecedented rebellion by the Shiv Sena legislators.
With this the two-and-half year old, three-party Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress government experiment has collapsed, barely hours after Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari ordered a floor test late on Tuesday night.
Thackeray announced his resignation - "I am quitting the post of CM" - in a public address to the people of the state on social media, in his familiar, cool, composed, father-figure style as he did regularly in the past two-and-half years.
"With your blessings and cooperation, I could manage it till now... I especially wish to thank Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, and both the parties for extending their cooperation," he said.
Thackeray also acknowledged how the NCP-Congress ministers on Wednesday immediately agreed to the renaming proposals of Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv, though conceding it was a much-delayed decision.
Touching briefly on his short-lived 31-month-long tenure and the 56-year-old party legacy that he carries forward, Thackeray recalled how many ordinary workers, autorickshaw drivers, paanwalas, etc, grew in the party, became corporators to ministers and became very big.
"Now those same people are 'naaraz' (disgruntled) and those who did not get anything are still loyal and stand strongly with Shiv Sena," he rued.
"I invited them (the rebels) several times to come and meet me and discuss their issues... whether they have problems with me, the Shiv Sena, the NCP, Congress or anything else... but there was no response," he noted with a tinge of sadness.
Thackeray said that those who became big on the strength of the Sena and Balasaheb Thackeray, if they believe that by topping his son, they will get "punya" (grace), let them have it.
"I was a reluctant CM.. The circumstances under which I came to the post is well known.. I am not hankering for any post. Before you, I hereby quit my post as CM.. I only need your love and affection," said CM, who had vacated the official quarters, 'Varsha' bungalow last week, hours after the rebellion erupted in full force.
Adding that he did not want the drama of any floor test or such politics, Thackeray also said he was quitting as Member of Legislative Council.
Taking a swipe, Thackeray said the Governor upheld democracy by acting on the Opposition's letter to order the floor test within 24 hours, and wished he (Governor) had done the same with the MVA's proposal to nominate 12 MLCs, now pending since November 2020 with Raj Bhavan.
Moments later, opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including state President Chandrakant Patil, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and others celebrated the CM's announcement with cheers and distributed sweets.
Several rebel MLAs welcomed the developments and said the state will now be on the path of progress under the leadership of prospective CM Fadnavis.
Now, the floor shifts back to the BJP and Raj Bhavan where the formalities of the new prospective new government shall crystallise.
The sources also said that they have identified around 22 mobile numbers of PFI student wing members who were present in the area before the violence erupted. They said that the probe agencies have been trying to ascertain their activities and they may be questioned by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police.
The packet had come through the cargo to Sirajudeen on April 17, and on Monday a person named Naukul had come to take it. The officials used a gas cutter to open the meat slicer and recovered 2.26 kg of gold stacked inside the machine.
Terming the development as a black day in the history of Punjab, Badal said never before in the history of the state had outsiders been given control of the state and its future generations in this manner.
Sidhu has been left out in the cold ever since the party lost the elections in Punjab earlier this year. He was asked to resign after the party appointed Amrinder Singh Raja Warring as the new President of Punjab Congress. Since then the Congress has set up a new team in Punjab, reportedly annoying the former state Congress chief.
Announcing to replicate the Delhi Model in the state, the Chief Minister said 117 government schools and an equal number of mohalla clinics will be set up with one each in every assembly segment across the state to impart quality education and the state-of-the-art healthcare facilities.
A spokesperson for the Chief Minister's Office said the move is aimed at sprucing up the health and education infrastructure of Punjab by replicating the Delhi model in both these core sectors.
