Finally, Uddhav to be Maharashtra CM

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, November 26 

Uddhav Thackeray is all set to be sworn in as Maharashtra Chief Minister with the Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress opting for him as their leader after Devendra Fadnavis quit as CM on Tuesday afternoon, a move necessitated by his deputy Ajit Pawar’s resignation citing “personal reasons”. These developments took place just hours after the Supreme Court ordered a vote of confidence to be held on Wednesday.

Uddhav late on Tuesday staked claim to form the government in Maharashtra before Governor BS Koshyari, party sources said. A high-level delegation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi submitted a letter from Uddhav and support letters of all alliance partners to the Governor. Koshyari has accepted the claim.  

“Uddhav will be sworn in as Chief Minister as the Maha Vikas Aghadi has chosen him as his leader,” Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut told reporters. NCP chief Sharad Pawar also stated that Uddhav was the unanimous choice for the post of Chief Minister of all three parties which have come together under the banner of the MVA.

Raut told reporters that Ajit Pawar, who rebelled against his uncle Sharad Pawar and joined hands with the BJP, had returned to his parent party after three days. “Ajit Pawar has resigned from the government and he is now with us,” Raut said. The younger Pawar, however, refused to speak to the media after his resignation.

While the Sena has 56 MLAs, the Congress has 44. The NCP originally had 54 MLAs before Ajit Pawar revolted to join hands with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP. The NCP claims that all MLAs who had supported Ajit Pawar have returned.

Earlier in the afternoon, before leaving for Raj Bhavan to put in his papers, Fadnavis told reporters that he was quitting because his government did not have the numbers to win the trust vote following the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar an hour earlier.

Fadnavis said the BJP had staked claim to form the government after Ajit Pawar as the leader of the NCP gave a letter of support from all 54 of his party’s MLAs. “Ajit Pawar met me in the morning today and said he would not be part of the alliance and resigned. As a result, we do not have the majority. From the first day, we said we will not engage in any horse-trading. We decided to form the government because we thought that the entire NCP group will back us,’’ Fadnavis said.

The three-day old Chief Minister in his second term, however, predicted that the new government would not remain stable. “Even an auto-rickshaw which runs on three wheels is stable, but when the wheels go in three different directions we know what will happen. The Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress will pull in different directions,” Fadnavis said.

Heaping scorn on the Shiv Sena for breaking the alliance with his BJP, Fadnavis said the people had voted for the saffron alliance. “BJP won 105 seats because we had contested jointly with the Shiv Sena. We may have got more seats had we gone alone,” Fadnavis said. He also hit out at the Shiv Sena for betraying Hindutva. “Yesterday, the Shiv Sena, which speaks of Hindutva, took oath in the name of Sonia Gandhi. Such is their desperation for power,” Fadnavis said. At the presser, Fadnavis reiterated that no promise was made to the Shiv Sena about sharing the post of Chief Minister. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said Uddhav Thackeray was all set to become Chief Minister for the next five years.

Shiv Sena chief to be sworn in tomorrow 

• The Governor has accepted the claim of the alliance and announced that Uddhav will be sworn in at 5 pm on November 28 
• Dy CMs may also be sworn in simultaneously; Jayant Patil is contender for the Deputy CM’s post from the NCP and Balasaheb Thorat from the Congress

BJP MLA Kolambkar pro tem speaker

• Governor Koshyari on Tuesday appointed BJP MLA Kalidas Kolambkar as the Pro Tem Speaker and administered him the oath of office at Raj Bhavan
• The Pro Tem Speaker is responsible for  administering the oath of office to the newly elected MLAs

Sharad’s NCP claims its brood intact

The NCP originally had 54 MLAs before Ajit Pawar revolted to join hands with Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP. The NCP claims that all MLAs who had supported Ajit Pawar have returned. The Sena has 56 MLAs and  Congress 44

New legislators to take oath today 

• Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has called a special session of the Assembly at 8 am on Wednesday where the Pro Tem Speaker will administers oath to the 288 newly elected members
• The newly elected members couldn’t take oath even one month after the results due to political uncertainty