Days after Pawar said he quit without fight, decision to resign proves to be Uddhav Thackeray's big mistake

File Photo/PTI

Days after Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar in his autobiography wrote critically about Uddhav Thackeray's decision to resign as Maharashtra chief minister without 'putting up a fight', the Supreme Court's ruling confirmed that it was indeed a blunder.

The apex court, while castigating the then Maharashtra governor for asking Thackeray to prove majority in the Assembly in June 2022, also observed on Thursday that nevertheless it can not restore the Thackeray government as he resigned without facing a floor test.

Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan also dubbed Thackeray's decision to quit following the rebellion of Eknath Shinde and several other Shiv Sena MLAs as a "big mistake".

When Thackeray announced his resignation through Facebook Live in the last week of June while the Shinde group was camping outside Maharashtra, Chavan had said that he should faced the floor test instead.

In his updated autobiography which was released on May 2, Sharad Pawar said it was expected that there would be attempts to destabilize the Thackeray-led government of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition.

"But we did not anticipate that there would be a storm within the Shiv Sena due to Uddhav Thackeray becoming chief minister," he wrote.

"The Sena leadership fell short in quelling this outburst of discontent....As Uddhav Thackeray resigned without putting up a fight, the MVA's stint in power came to an end," the octogenarian politician with legislative experience of over five decades added.

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Chavan, who has served as Maharashtra chief minister and also a union minister, said there was no inkling that Thackeray would resign after the cabinet meeting of June 29, 2022.

"This was a big mistake. If the governor had demanded a floor test, you should have gone to the Assembly and put forth your stand. We would have got the chance to put forth our stand. After that, whoever had the majority would have won. Had you lost the vote, it would have been fine. But that (not facing the House) was a mistake," he reiterated on Thursday.

"Had Thackeray discussed it with MVA constituents, sought legal opinion, he would not have done it," the Congress leader added.

Senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal echoed the same view.

"Pawar said Thackeray did not take us into confidence before quitting. He did not give us any idea. He should have consulted all three parties," Bhujbal, a one-time Shiv Sena leader, said.

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