Uddhav Thackeray calls for Eknath Shinde's resignation following court order

Addressing the Supreme Court’s decision, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s predecessor Uddhav Thackeray asserted that Shinde had “murdered” democracy in order to attain power and should consequently resign from his position.

Thackeray, accompanied by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during a press conference, emphasized that Shinde should follow his example of stepping down from the Chief Minister’s role.

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The Supreme Court ruling allowed Shinde to retain his position despite benefiting from an unlawful decision by the former governor following his mutiny against his former boss, which was a setback for Thackeray in relation to the Shiv Sena mutiny that took place last year.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday expressed complete satisfaction over the Supreme Court’s verdict in last year’s Shiv Sena-centric political crisis in Maharashtra. Fadnavis told reporters; I express my complete satisfaction over the Supreme Court’s decision.

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Those who were speculating that this government will collapse today have been silenced (by the verdict). The senior BJP leader added, I will comment on the decision in detail along with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Earlier, the Supreme Court held the Maharashtra governor was not justified in calling upon then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove majority in the Assembly on June 30 last year but refused to order status quo ante, saying he did not face the floor test and resigned.

In a unanimous verdict on a batch of pleas related to the political crisis that led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Thackeray following a revolt by the Eknath Shinde faction, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud held that House speakers’ decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde faction as the whip of Shiv Sena was “illegal”. It, however, said since Thackeray had resigned without facing the floor test, the governor was justified in inviting Shinde to form government at the behest of the BJP which was the largest political party in the house.

(With agency inputs)