Maharashtra Political Crisis: Uddhav Thackeray sacks Eknath Shinde as Shiv Sena leader, party sources say

Maharashtra Assembly Secretary Rajendra Bhagwat has informed all state MLAs that as per the Governor's orders the special session that was scheduled on Thursday will now not be convened. The special Assembly was scheduled today with the only agenda of a Trust Vote against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray Minister who resigned as chief minister late Wednesday evening. In a circular, Rajendra Bhagwat, Principal Secretary, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, informed all state MLAs that as per the Governor's orders, there's no need for a floor test now, so today's special session will not be convened.

Police have tightened security at the residences and offices of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs in the wake of the resignation of Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.The rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde are expected to reach Mumbai on Thursday morning. A chartered flight carrying them landed at the Dabolim airport in Goa on Wednesday night. They are currently staying in a five-star hotel at Dona Paula near Panaji. Police are on alert to avoid any untoward incident across Maharashtra following the resignation of Uddhav Thackeray, an official said.

After nine days of intense political turmoil, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra collapsed late on Wednesday evening. Uddhav Thackeray resigned as chief minister of the three-party Shiv SenaNCP-Congress coalition minutes after the Supreme Court ruled that the floor test in the Maharashtra assembly would go ahead on Thursday. With the floor test no longer necessary after Thackeray’s resignation, governor B S Koshyari will soon invite leader of the opposition, BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, for formation of the new government. Fadnavis will return for his third term as CM, while Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde, who walked away with 39 out of the party’s 55 MLAs, will likely be deputy CM. At least a dozen of Shinde’s supporters are likely to be accommodated in Fadnavis’s cabinet, sources said.

The fall of the MVA regime and the formation of a new government, presumably headed by BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, is likely to have abearing on the disqualification notices issued to the rebel MLAs, say experts. A new government would appoint a new speaker, which in turn may shape the course of events. A senior NCP leader said once the new speaker takes over, most issues raised by the Shiv Sena will be resolved. “We expect that after Fadnavis is sworn in as CM, priority will be election of speaker in the first session itself. It is likely that the new speaker will take a decision on all the pending issues,” he said.

With Uddhav Thackeray quitting as Maharashtra chief minister, BJP is expected to wrap up the business of formation of a coalition government in the state with the rebel Shiv Sena faction shortly. Sources said Union home minister Amit Shah worked out the details of government formation with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis who looks set to return as CM for the second time. Sources said in the 90-minute meeting, Shah, confident of the resilience of Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena (Balasaheb Thackeray group), even discussed the nittygritty of the power-sharing arrangement with Fadnavis when he met him on Tuesday. Shah then referred Fadnavis to BJP chief J P Nadda for formal clearance of government formation. This is perhaps the first instance when a government has fallen on the issue of Hindutva and a new dispensation is set to take over on the same plank.

The revolt within Shiv Sena which pulled down the MVA government had more to do with longstanding resentments within the party than issues of governance. While BJP had been relentlessly working to topple the government, here it was helped by a coup which had been building independently within Sena. Indeed, this was acknowledged by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday. “He said I have been betrayed by my own people,” said NCP leader and water resources minister Jayant Patil. That rebel leader Eknath Shinde’s resentment had been building for a long time was no secret.