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BJP's message for rebel Shiv Sena MLAs after Uddhav resigns: ‘Urge them not to…’
The rebel Shiv Sena MLA and some inpendent legislators landed at Dabolim airport in Goa from Guwahati on Wednesday evening for a stopover before heading to Mumbai.
Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil has urged rebel Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde to come to Mumbai on the day of oath-taking. The Shinde faction left Guwahati for Goa on Wednesday evening in a charter plane of private carrier SpiceJet after spending eight days in Assam. They were expected to arrive in Mumbai on Thursday ahead of the scheduled floor test in the Maharashtra legislative assembly.
But the trust vote against Uddhav Thackeray is no longer required as he has resigned as Maharashtra chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis is all set to return as CM for the third time.
“Those (rebel Shiv Sena MLAs) who were reaching Mumbai tomorrow, I urge them not to come tomorrow, they should come on the day of oath-taking,” Patil said, as quoted by ANI.
To a question about the BJP's next move, Patil said, "The next steps will be decided by Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde."
Fadnavis told reporters that "I will tell the party's stand tomorrow for sure."
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray submitted his resignation to Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on late Wednesday night after the Supreme Court cleared the deck for a floor test on Thursday. In his last speech as Maharashtra CM, Thackeray made an emotional appeal to the rebel MLAs and thanked allies Congress president Sonia Gandhi and NCP chief Sharad Pawar for their support.
"I had come (to power) in an unexpected manner and I am going out in a similar fashion. I am not going away forever, I will be here, and I will once again sit in Shiv Sena Bhavan. I will gather all my people. I am resigning as the CM and as an MLC," he said.
"I want to express my gratitude to the people of NCP and Congress that they supported me. From Shiv Sena, Anil Parab, Subhash Desai and Aaditya Thackeray, these people were only present when the proposal was passed while NCP and Congress people also supported the proposal," Thackeray added.
