India: Maharashtra CM moves out of official residence amid escalating political crisis

Amid escalating political crisis in the Indian state of Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday night moved from his official residence to family home, hours after offering to quit the top post in the thick of rebellion by Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde.

The CM moved out of ‘Varsha’, his official residence, for Matoshree, the private bungalow of the Thackeray family, amid high drama as the political crisis that has rocked his government after Shinde’s revolt two days ago, showed no signs of ebbing.

Shiv Sena leaders like Neelam Gorhe and Chandrakant Khaire were present at ‘Varsha’ when Thackeray was leaving the official residence.

Party workers raised slogans and showered petals on the CM as he left his official house along with his family members at around 9.50 pm, PTI reports.

Earlier, bags containing his personal belongings were seen being loaded in cars. During a ‘Facebook Live’ session in the evening, Thackeray had said he will be leaving ‘Varsha’ and residing at ‘Matoshree’.

Thackeray, who also heads the Shiv Sena, had moved to ‘Varsha’ after becoming the chief minister in November 2019. However, Shiv Sena’s chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut asserted Thackeray will not resign following the rebellion by a section of party MLAs, and maintained the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will prove its majority in the Assembly if required.

The NCP and the Congress are also part of the MVA.

Eknath Shinde continues to be legislative party chief

A resolution passed by the Shiv Sena Legislature Party carrying signatures of 34 MLAs that rebel leader Eknath Shinde continues to be the leader, has been sent to the state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, reports ANI.

The resolution, adopted on Tuesday, said that Eknath Shinde was unanimously elected as leader of Shiv Sena Legislature Party in 2019 and continues to be the leader of the Legislative Party. It said Bharat Gogawale has been appointed as Chief Whip of the party.

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Following the political crisis, Shiv Sena had removed Eknath Shinde as the party’s legislative party leader. However, the rebels have hit back with the resolution.

The resolution said that Shiv Sena’s ideology has been compromised in the past two years. They also expressed their dissatisfaction with “corruption in government,” referring to Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik, who are currently in jail.

“Bharat Gogawale has been appointed as the Chief Whip of Shiv Sena Legislative Party. So, the order issued by Sunil Prabhu, regarding the Legislative Party meeting this evening is illegal,” Eknath Shinde had said.

The rebel Shiv Sena MLAs have said that there is enormous discontent amongst the party workers for forming the government with NCP and Indian National Congress on account of different ideologies.

• India