Sena vs Sena | Shinde, Fadnavis must quit, says Uddhav after SC verdict; govt.- formation legal: Sena-BJP alliance

Mr. Thackeray told reporters that Mr. Shinde and Mr. Fadnavis should resign on moral grounds “if they have any ethics”.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday termed the Supreme Court’s verdict on a batch of pleas related to last year’s political crisis in the State a “slap” on those who called his government “illicit”, while Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray sought the resignation of Mr. Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis on “moral grounds”.

The petitions had been filed after Mr. Shinde’s rebellion against the undivided Shiv Sena led by Mr. Thackeray, which led to the fall of the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

In a unanimous verdict, a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud had ruled that the Governor was not justified in asking Mr. Thackeray, the then Chief Minister, to prove majority in the Assembly.

It, however, said the MVA government could not be restored as Mr. Thackeray had resigned without facing the floor test, and the Governor was right in inviting Mr. Shinde to form the government with the support of the BJP, the largest political party in the Assembly.

Soon after the verdict, Mr. Thackeray told reporters at Matoshree, his residence in Bandra, that the ruling “reinstates trust in democracy” and Mr. Shinde and Mr. Fadnavis should resign on moral grounds “if they have any ethics”. “They [Shinde faction] betrayed my party and the legacy of my father [Bal Thackeray]. My resignation as CM may have been legally wrong, but I did it on moral grounds,” he said.

The Sena (UBT) chief said Speaker Rahul Narvekar had to consider Sunil Prabhu as the whip of the party while deciding on the disqualification of 16 rebel MLAs, including Mr. Shinde, as the top court had ruled that the Speaker’s decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde faction as the party whip was “illegal”.

Mr. Thackeray also slammed then Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for asking him to take the floor test. “How was I supposed to run a government with backstabbers?” he said, adding that there should be a provision to take action against Governors even after they leave the State for “misusing” their position.