Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday announced that he will step down if rebel MLAs want him to do so.
“Will quit as chief minister and leave official residence if even one of the disgruntled MLAs says he doesn’t want me as CM”, said Thackeray while addressing the public via Facebook LIVE.
He also asserted that he has kept his resignation letter ready as he was ‘willing to resign as CM this very moment’.
“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”, said the Shiv Sena president.
Reportedly, Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra is facing its worst crisis since coming into power in 2019.
Senior Shiv Sena leader and state cabinet minister Eknath Shinde has rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray leadership.
Shinde has claimed the support of 40 Shiv Sena MLAs out of a total of 55 and took some of them to BJP-ruled Gujarat.
They were shifted to Guwahati in Assam from Surat this morning. To circumvent the anti-defection law, Mr Shinde will need two-thirds of the 55 Shiv Sena MLAs which comes to 37, on his side.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MLAs, who are supporting Mr Thackeray, have been shifted to a hotel in Lower Parel near Mumbai to protect them from poaching.
