944 days after he was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray's son Uddhav Thackeray stepped down as the chief minister after multiple attempts and appeals to quell a rebellion within his own party failed to yeiled results.
In his late night address, Uddhav invoked his reluctance to be the chief minister. He was the first Thackeray to take part in the government.
The rebellion was led by Eknath Shinde, his one time confidante, who had ostensibly pinned the blame on Sena's alliance with one-time foes the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party. Uddhav had words of praise for the Maha Vikas Aghadi partners, whom he said were willing to support his government from outside just to placate the rebel group which spent days in a hotel in Assam.
His announcement came minutes after the Supreme Court refused to stay Maharashtra Governor's direction to the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government to take a floor test in the Assembly on Thursday.
The rebellion, analysts believe, was partly triggered by the fact that the Hindutava icon's son remained away from the ground, disconnected from the Saniks. And now the ousted head of Saniks is returning back to Dadar, to Sena Bhavan, to rebuild a Shiv Sena that his father had co-founded.
While Uddhav went to meet Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to submit his nocturnal resignation, visuals relayed by a news wire showed BJP lawmakers breaking out in celebrations at a hotel in Mumbai.