Thackeray hints at MLC route to state legislature

Chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday indicated that he would take the legislative Council route to get elected in the House.

Chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday indicated that he would take the legislative Council route to get elected in the House.

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Thackeray is expected to fulfil the constitutional requirement of being a member of the state legislature after taking oath as chief minister.

While speaking on the eve of the retirement of 18 council members, including Shiv Sena’s Neelam Gorhe, Thackeray said, “If I say I wish all should come back [to the House], then how will I come? I cannot say that all should get elected again except one. Therefore, I wish all the members the best.”

Gorhe, the deputy chairperson of the legislative Council, has been elected three times to the upper house of the legislature and is set to retire in April. The party has so far made no official announcement if Thackeray would contest the next MLC election. In a February interview to Sanjay Raut, MP and executive editor of Sena mouthpiece Saamana, Thackeray had said that if he entered through the Assembly, one member from his party will have to resign, and a by-poll will be scheduled. “I feel I should go take the Council route if it can be without hurting anyone from the Assembly,” he had said.