Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday told his cabinet colleagues that he was “betrayed by his own people”, apparently referring to the current political crisis in the MVA government. Thackeray said this while presiding over a cabinet meeting while hearing a petition filed by his government challenging the governor’s direction to prove majority in order to prove majority.
#watch , Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray leaves from Mantralaya in Mumbai after the state cabinet meeting was over. pic.twitter.com/la9y25r4HE— ANI (@ANI) 29 June 2022
News agency PTI quoted an official as saying that Thackeray told his cabinet colleagues that he had been betrayed by his own people. “If I have inadvertently hurt anyone, I also apologize,” the official quoted Thackeray as saying. He said the ministers clapped after the chief minister addressed the meeting.
Mumbai: CM Uddhav Thackeray further said that he got the support of Congress and NCP but unfortunately he did not get the support of people of his own party (Shiv Sena): NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Jayant Patil after state cabinet meeting pic.twitter.com/o8ZIyUjc4J— ANI (@ANI) 29 June 2022
The fate of the Thackeray government hangs in balance as senior minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde along with most of the Shiv Sena MLAs rebelled against the party leadership. The official also said that the chief minister did not say or indicate that he was planning to step down ahead of a possible trust vote on Thursday.
“He thanked the cabinet for their cooperation and said that the cooperation will continue,” Congress minister Sunil Kedar told reporters. Asked whether the MVA government will survive Eknath Shinde’s rebellion, Kedar said, “Given the way Thackeray has led the state’s fight against COVID-19, every MLA of the House will vote according to his/her discretion.” will do.”
CM said that we cooperate well with him and he will expect similar cooperation from us in future also. He also said that he will treat us the same way: Sunil Kedar, Maharashtra minister and Congress leader, after state cabinet meeting, in Mumbai pic.twitter.com/YvrWdpIpTK
— ANI (@ANI) 29 June 2022
“Uddhav Thackeray will neither stop nor give up,” the Congress leader said. Kedar appealed to the people to consider that a conspiracy had been hatched against Thackeray, who efficiently led the state during the pandemic and resumed his official duties soon after undergoing severe spine surgery.
A major decision taken by the cabinet on Wednesday was to rename Aurangabad city as Sambhajinagar.
More than a week after Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde revolted against the party, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to conduct a floor test on Thursday. However, Shiv Sena has approached. The Supreme Court has challenged the direction.
On Wednesday, Shinde claimed the support of 50 dissident MLAs and independents from his own party, saying they can pass “any floor test” numbers. Visiting the Kamakhya temple here for the second time in the day, Shinde said, “We have 50 MLAs, more than two-thirds. We are not worried about the floor test and we will pass the exam.”