Maha crisis worsens: CM Uddhav Thackeray leaves official residence

Mumbai/Surat/Guwahati: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray late Wednesday evening packed his bags, moved out of his Chief Ministerial residence, and went back to his ancestral house in 'Matoshree'. The passive-aggressive move by the Sena chief came after an emotional address to his party cadres in an attempt to recoil their support to counter the crisis in the MVA government.

Leaving the official residence seemed a calculated move especially after Uddhav, in his Facebook Live address, dared the rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde to tell him on his face that he was not capable of running the government. "If any MLA from there says Uddhav Thackeray is not capable of being CM, I will give my resignation," he said hitting two birds with a stone - one leaving the ball in the rebels' court and two stoking up his defiant support within Shiv Sena.

Shortly afterward, Shiv Sena workers reached the CM's official residence and showed their support for Thackeray who had another trick up his sleeve. As Shiv Sainiks hurled outside, men were seen carrying CM's luggage out of his official residence. Soon Uddhav was seen leaving Varsha, the official residence, to his ancestral home in Matoshree. Observers would say this was Uddhav's way of proving that he was not 'power-hungry' as he had said in his address. "CM's position was not something I yearn for," an emotionally charged Uddhav told his party workers.

Meanwhile, four more Maharashtra MLAs reached Guwahati on Wednesday at around 9 pm via a chartered flight and put up at the hotel where rebel MLAs are staying at the moment. The four MLAs -- Chandrakant Patil, Yogesh Kadam, Manjula Gavit and Gulabrao Patil -- arrived in the evening from Surat in Gujarat. While Gavit and Chandrakant Patil are Independent MLAs, Kadam and Gulabrao Patil are Shiv Sena legislators.

Earlier Thackeray had come out to greet workers and supporters after his meeting with NCP chief Sharad Pawar and MP Supriya Sule. After Uddhav's Facebook address in the evening, rebelling Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde termed the MVA alliance as 'unnatural' and said that Shiv Sena needed to come out of it.

"It's essential to get out of the unnatural alliance for the survival of the party," Shinde tweeted in Marathi shortly after Uddhav addressed the party cadres. Speaking in Marathi, Uddhav told his party cadres that Shiv Sena will never leave Hindutva and the party cadres should know whatever they are today, is because of the party.

He told his party cadres including the rebel MLAs that if they tell him on his face that he is "incapable", he will resign right away. "I am sad and surprised. If Congress and NCP would have said, we don't want Uddhav as CM, that would have been perfectly fine...Kamal Nath and Pawar called me today. I said 'my people', but I don't think he (Shinde) considers me 'his people'...If any MLA from there says Uddhav Thackeray is not capable of being CM, I will give my resignation," he said.

Thackeray said that some people allege that Shiv Sena today is not what it was during Balasaheb Thackeray's time. "I don't care what the trolls say on Twitter. I care about what the Shiv Sainiks say. I am keeping my resignation ready, come and tell me you want me to resign," he said. Uddhav said that CM's position was "not something he yearns for".

"I don't care how many there are or how many vote for me. Even if one votes against me, it is a loss for me," he said. Shiv Sena, he reiterated, was not going to leave "Hindutva". "This is the mantra that Shiv Sena promotes, and this is what Balasaheb Thackeray has given us," Uddhav said. The Facebook address replaced the original plan to have a Legislature Party(LP) meeting called for at the same time by the Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu.

It came at a time when rebel Eknath Shinde had managed to decamp with at least 34 MLAs to a luxury hotel in Guwahati. The rebel faction had on Tuesday elected Shinde as floor leader of its Legislative Party and appointed Bharat Gogawale as Chief Whip.

Earlier, Thackeray had tested positive for Covid19. "Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray has tested positive for COVID19," Kamal Nath, the newly appointed Congress Observer for the state, said to the media. The Maharashtra CM chaired the crucial Cabinet meeting via video conferencing. Thackeray's COVID-positive diagnosis came hours after Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari also tested positive for the virus. While the Governor was admitted to a hospital without delay, the CM presided over a virtual cabinet meeting regarding the political instability currently persisting in Maharashtra.

The MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) coalition, made up of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP, is currently engaged in a desperate bid to save its government in the state after dissident Shinde alongside several others MLAs of the party took up in Surat on Tuesday and flew to Guwahati on Wednesday morning.