Uddhav Thackeray To Be Maharashtra Chief Minister, Oath On Thursday

Mumbai:  Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray is set to be the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra after the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis ended his 80-hour second term before facing a floor test ordered by the Supreme Court. Mr Fadnavis resigned shortly after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar quit as his deputy, unable to win over MLAs to help the BJP retain power. Uddhav Thackeray will be sworn in on Thursday as Chief Minister of a Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government, an unthinkable alliance because of its ideologically mismatched constituents. “I had never dreamed of leading the state. I would like to thank (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi and others,”Uddhav Thackeray said after being elected to lead the alliance. He met the Governor on Tuesday evening and staked claim to form the government. Ajit Pawar, whose overnight switch had enabled the BJP’s Saturday morning coup, is back in the NCP fold, say sources. He met his uncle and NCP chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai on Tuesday evening.

Here are the top developments in Maharashtra politics today:

1. The BJP, which won 105 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly, needed 40 MLAs to prove a majority. The party had banked on Ajit Pawar to bring in 54 NCP MLAs, but the gamble didn’t pay; hardly anyone followed “Ajit-Dada”.
2. “Ajit Pawar gave me his resignation. He told me he was resigning because of personal reasons. BJP had decided from the first day we will not indulge in horse-trading. We only decided to form government because NCP was with us. Since he has resigned, we don’t have the numbers. So I have also decided to resign,” Mr Fadnavis told reporters.
3. The resignations came after the Supreme Court ordered an “immediate” floor test, to be telecast live, so that Mr Fadnavis could prove his majority in the assembly. “If the floor test is delayed, there is a possibility of horse-trading, it becomes incumbent upon the Court to act to protect democratic values,” said the court.
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, the two top leaders of the BJP, had met right after the Supreme Court verdict. A message from the leadership went to Mr Fadnavis after the meeting.
5. Mr Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in on Saturday, in a sudden oath ceremony at 7.50 am that was challenged in the Supreme Court as undemocratic and unconstitutional.
6. Ajit Pawar’s turnabout was key to the BJP’s surprise comeback. But nearly all NCP MLAs returned to the party fold over the past few days and more than 50 also participated in a show of strength at a five-star hotel in Mumbai last evening. It became increasingly apparent that the Ajit Pawar was isolated within his own party and that the BJP may not have enough MLAs after all.
7. Ajit Pawar never took charge of his office or attended any event in his short-lived stint. Several NCP leaders, including his uncle Sharad Pawar and cousin Supriya Sule, called him to persuade him to return to the fold.
8. Unfazed by Ajit Pawar’s four-day “betrayal”, many of his supporters held up placards of “Ajit-Dada, we love you” at the Trident, where the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress met on government formation.
9. Maharashtra will have a Sena chief minister after 20 years but a Thackeray as Chief Minister for the first time. In the election last month, Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya became the first of his family to ever contest the election.
10. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has called a special assembly session at 8 am for the oath-taking of newly elected MLAs.

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