Maharashtra CM Uddhav submits resignation to governor after SC refuses to stay floor test

16 MLAs who face a disqualification petition were given upto July 11 to respond on the grounds that they had very little time to respond. Yet a special session of the state assembly has been called in one day. This is unfair and a joke on the Constitution: Sanjay Raut

The rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, who have been camping here for last one week, are likely to leave for Goa this afternoon, en route Mumbai.A SpiceJet aircraft has been hired and the flight is expected to leave Guwahati's Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport for Goa's Dabolim airport at around 3 pm, sources said.The 39 rebel Shiva Sena MLAs and some independent MLAs are going to travel together in one aircraft to Goa and from there they are likely to travel to Mumbai.

Rebel Maharashtra MLAs will be heading to Goa today; 70 rooms booked at Taj Resort & Convention Centre, Goa. They will then fly to Mumbai tomorrow and go directly to the Maharashtra Assembly: Sources

Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said he will reach Mumbai on Thursday for floor test against the beleaguered Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra.There has been no formal announcement from Raj Bhavan that the floor test is slated for Thursday, though a letter specifying June 30 as the floor test date, purportedly written by the Governor, went viral on Tuesday.

With BJP urging Governor B S Koshyari to direct CM Uddhav Thackeray to prove the MVA government’s majority, a BJP leader said the ball is now in the governor’s court. He will have to draft a plan for conducting the floor test, but it remains to be seen if he will oblige BJP as SC has ordered status quo and posted the case on MLAs’ disqualification to July 12. Sena’s contention is that since status quo has been ordered, it would be wrong on the part of the governor to conduct the floor test.MVA leaders will meet on Wednesday to take stock of the situation. The governor may summon CM Thackeray on Wednesday in view of Fadnavis’s letter, sources said.

The appeal came a few hours after rebel leader Eknath Shinde said his group would soon be returning to Mumbai. In his statement, CM Thackeray said, "You have been stuck in Guwahati for the last few days. In your mind you are still Shiv Sainiks and many of you are in touch with us." However, the appeal cut no ice with Shinde. "On one hand, your son and spokesperson call Balasaheb's Shiv Sainiks pigs, buffaloes, filth, dogs and corpses. On the other hand, there is a call to unite the same MLAs to save the anti-Hindu MVA government. What does this mean?"

After his meeting with the governor, Fadnavis addressed the media for the first time after the political crisis broke out in the state last Tuesday. Fadnavis said BJP has given its letter to the governor via email as well as a physical letter detailing the current situation in the state. In his letter to the governor, Fadnavis has alleged that Sena leader Sanjay Raut is threatening the legislators now camping in Guwahati, saying their dead bodies will be brought to Mumbai. Many other Sena leaders are also threatening the rebel MLAs with dire consequences.