MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray broke his silence on Wednesday over the ongoing political crisis in the state, saying he is ready to quit if any one MLA says he is not capable for the CM post.
Addressing the people of Maharashtra on his Facebook page, Thackeray said Hindutva is the ideology and identity of the Shiv Sena.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi government is on the brink of collapse after senior Shiv Sena leader and minister Eknath Shinde declared an open rebellion against his party and left Mumbai with a sizeable number of MLAs on Monday night.
“If you (rebel MLAs) say, then I am ready to leave the CM post. It’s not about numbers but how many are against me. I will leave if even one person or MLA is against me. It’s very shameful for me if even a single MLA is against me,” Thackeray said.
“I am ready to give my resignation to the MLAs, they should come here and take my resignation to Raj Bhavan. I am ready to leave the post of Shiv Sena party head also, not on the saying of others but my workers,” the chief minister said.
Reacting to the criticism that the Sena was moving away from its core ideology, Thackeray asserted that Hindutva is the very identity of the party.
“Some people say that it’s not Balasaheb’s Shiv Sena. They should tell what were the thoughts of Bala Saheb. This is the same Shiv Sena that it was at his time ‘Hindutva’ is our life,” he said.
The Sena chief said he became the chief minister of Maharashtra accidentally after he was told to take up the responsibility by NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.
“When all three parties came together in 2019, Sharad Pawar told me that I had to take the responsibility of CM post. I didn’t even prior experience. But I took the responsibility. Sharad Pawar and (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi helped me a lot; they kept their faith in me,” Thackeray said.
The chief minister had a telephonic conversation with Shinde on Tuesday evening, but the rebel leader reportedly stood firm on his demand that the Sena should come out of the MVA alliance and join hands with the BJP to form the government.
On Wednesday, Shinde even claimed that his is the real Shiv Sena and asserted that he has the support of 46 legislators, including some independents.
The Congress and the NCP, the other two constituents in the ruling coalition, have maintained that there is no threat to the government.
Earlier, the Sena had asked all its MLAs, including the rebels accompanying Shinde, to attend a legislature party meeting at 5 pm at the chief minister’s official residence or face action under the anti-defection law.
“You cannot remain absent to the meeting without providing a valid and sufficient reason. If you do not attend the meeting, it would be presumed that you have a clear intention of leaving the party. Hence, there will be action taken against you based on the provisions for preventing anti-defection,” said a letter issued by Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu.
Hitting back, Shinde said the orders issued by Prabhu are “legally invalid” as MLA Bharat Gogawale is being appointed as the party chief whip.
In the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, Shiv Sena has 55 MLAS, NCP (53), Congress (44), Bahujan Vikas Agahdi (three), Samajwadi Party, AIMIM and Prahar Janshakti Party two each. MNS, CPI-M, PWP, Swabhimani Paksha, Rashtriya Samaj Party, Jansurajya Shakti Party and Krantikari Shetkari Paksha have one MLA each. There are 13 independent MLAs.
The opposition BJP has 106 MLAs.
Shinde, along with his loyal MLAs, left Mumbai soon after the results of Maharashtra Legislative Council polls were announced on Monday night. They were camping at a hotel in Surat before being flown to Guwahati on Wednesday morning.
—PTI

Press Trust of India