Maharashtra state deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that Uddhav Thackeray had resigned as Chief Minister of Maharashtra on his own in June last year without facing a floor test, so how can his government be reinstated by the Supreme Court (SC).
Fadnavis also maintained his party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will continue to work with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and fight the next elections under the latter's leadership.
If you read the Supreme Court proceedings carefully, you will realise that Uddhav Thackeray himself had resigned he did not even face the floor test in the Assembly. In mid-March, the Supreme Court reserved its verdict on a batch of cross-petitions of Uddhav Thackeray and Shinde factions of the Shiv Sena pertaining to the June 2022 political crisis in Maharashtra.
Expanding his point, Fadnavis said, I have been a lawyer. If he (Uddhav Thackeray) had resigned on his own, how will the Supreme Court set aside his resignation and reinstate him as Chief Minister? This is not possible. Rebellion by a group of Shiv Sena MLAs had led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which also included the NCP and the Congress.
Let me give you one prediction very clearly Shinde will remain Maharashtra Chief Minister, and we will face the next elections under his leadership," said the BJP leader. Assembly polls in Maharashtra are due in the second half of 2024.