A rebel MLA from the Eknath Shinde camp today said the resignation of Uddhav Thackeray from the Chief Minister's post "is not a matter of joy for us". "Uddhav Thackeray did not take note of the issues pointed by us," Deepak Kesarkar, the spokesman of the faction, said in an exclusive interview to NDTV. "Sharad Pawar became close to him. Shiv Sainiks became distant," he added.
"We are all sad that while fighting the NCP and the Congress, we had got angry with our leader too. The reason for this is the NCP and (Shiv Sena's) Sanjay Raut, whose job is to make statements every day against the central government and create bad blood between the center and the state," Mr Kesarkar said.
The rebellion by Eknath Shinde and 50 MLAs supporting him - 40 of them from the Shiv Sena - spelled the end for the government led by the Shiv Sena.
After an eight-day political turmoil, Mr Thackeray stepped down from the top post this evening after the Supreme Court ruled that his government has to take the floor test tomorrow as ordered by the Governor. The Team Thackeray, down to around 15 MLAs following Mr Shinde's rebellion, had asked the court to stop the floor test.
"There are many MPs who are angry because of the Congress and NCP," Mr Kesarkar said. "The state president of NCP used to go to our area and announce the names of his people. It was because of us that these people came to power... Every evening Sanjay Raut was abusing (the Centre). People got upset. We prayed that no party should have such a spokesperson," he added.
The rebel MLAs, who were camping out intially in Surat and then in Guwahati, went to Goa today after day-long suspense over the floor test.
AdvertisementMr Shinde's faction today declared in court that his faction was the real Shiv Sena and it wants to renew its alliance with the BJP.
With Mr Thackeray's resignation, the floor test is now void.
AdvertisementThe BJPs Devendra Fadnavis is likely to stake claim to form government, sources 'have said. Rebel leader Eknath Shinde, whose move to walk out with a chunk of MLAs set off the slide is likely to be his deputy.
