After the Supreme Court held that it cannot restore the then Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray as he resigned without facing the floor test in June last year, thereby letting Eknath Shinde continue as the Chief Minister, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former CM Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday stated the verdict reinstated his trust in democracy.
“They (Shinde faction MLAs) betrayed my party and the legacy of my father. My resignation as the CM then may have been wrong legally, but I did it on moral grounds,” Uddhav Thackeray told reporters at his Matoshree bungalow in suburban Bandra.
“How was I supposed to run a government with backstabbers,” the former CM said.
“If the current Maharashtra CM (Shinde) and deputy CM (Devendra Fadnavis) have any ethics, then they should resign after the SC ruling,” he added, sitting alongside Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Reacting to Thackeray’s remark, Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said at a press conference that Uddhav Thackeray should not talk about morality, as he had “forgotten” about his morals, when he went with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress for the CM post.
“It doesn’t suit Uddhav Thackeray to talk about morality. I want to ask him if had he forgotten his morals when he went with NCP and Congress for CM post. He had not resigned on moral grounds but due to fear after people who were with him left him,” Fadnavis said in the press conference.
He also welcomed the Supreme Court verdict and called it a “victory for democracy”.
“This is a victory for democracy and the democratic process. We are satisfied with the verdict given by the Supreme Court,” Fadnavis said in Mumbai.
“Today, Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) conspiracy has been defeated. Now, no one should doubt that the Maharashtra government is completely legal,” he added.
Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray also called for the resignation of the CM.
“The role and assistance of the earlier governor in the hostile take over of government, and suppressing democracy and the constitution is evident.He acted as a Party man, not as a Governor. If there’s any morality and shame left, the unconstitutional cm should resign. Their greed for power is evident, but morality and democracy must be supreme,” he said.
The apex court today ruled that the Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra can’t be restored as he had resigned as CM on his own last year. In a unanimous verdict, the five-judge bench held that House speaker’s decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde faction as the whip of Shiv Sena was “illegal”.
Thackeray said that after the SC ruling holding as illegal the Speaker’s decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde faction as the whip of Shiv Sena, Speaker Rahul Narvekar has to take into consideration Sunil Prabhu as the whip of his Shiv Sena while deciding on disqualification of 16 rebel MLAs.
