AMN / WEB DESK
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray resigned on Wednesday, minutes after the Supreme Court ruled that he must prove tomorrow that his government still has a majority.
“We respect the Supreme Court judgment. Democracy must be followed,” Uddhav Thackeray said in an online address.
Mr Thackeray said he was also quitting as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra and his team, reduced to just about 15 MLAs, had asked the court to stop the floor test called tomorrow by the Governor of the state.
The Supreme Court, however, said that the result of the vote tomorrow will be subject to its verdict on July 11, when it will decide whether a section of MLAs from the Sena should be disqualified, as requested by Mr Thackeray’s side.
“I am satisfied that we have officially renamed Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad to Dharashiv – the cities named by Balasaheb Thackeray,” he said in his speech after the apex court verdict.
Thackeray said he fulfilled his father late Bal Thackeray’s dream of renaming Aurangabad city as Sambhajinagar. “I am also resigning as a member of Legislative Council,” he said in a webcast.
“I want to express my gratitude to the people of NCP and Congress that they supported me. From Shiv Sena, Anil Parab, Subhash Desai and Aaditya Thackeray, these people were only present when the proposal was passed while NCP and Congress people also supported the proposal,” he added.
A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala said Thursday’s proceeding in the Assembly will be subject to the final outcome of Shiv Sena’s plea against Governor’s decision.
The top court also issued notice to the Secretary of Legislative Assembly and others on plea against the Governor’s direction for the floor test.
“We have drafted this short order. We are not staying the floor test as convened by the Governor. We are issuing notice in the writ petition. You can file a counter in five days. We will hear on merits along with other cases on July 11. Tomorrow’s proceeding will depend on the final outcome of this petition,” the bench said.