How BJP made Uddhav Thackeray eat his words with Eknath Shinde's appointment as CM

'Eknath Shinde will be the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra, I will see to the functioning of the government from outside,' announced Devendra Fadnavis in a massive political twist on Thursday. With Shinde's oath-taking ceremony just a few hours away, not just the casual observers, but the best political analysts of the country, have been marvelling at how Fadnavis gave away the top post and made Uddhav Thackeray eat his own words. Omar Abdullah went so far as to say that Shinde becoming Chief Minister was 'very bad news' for Uddhav Thackeray. 

How BJP made Uddhav eat his own words

When the MLAs led by Eknath Shinde had gone incommunicado and the best efforts of the Sena camp to reach out to them had proved futile, Uddhav Thackeray had addressed the people of Maharashtra through a Facebook Live. In the address, Uddhav had emotionally said that if any of the rebel MLAs came to him or even give out a statement and said that they do not want him as a CM, he was ready to resign. "But can they guarantee that the next CM will be a Sainik?” the son of Balasaheb Thackeray had said. 

Shinde answered Uddhav in his first address after being named his successor, saying, "BJP has more numbers and it could have easily taken the CM chair, but by showing magnanimity, they chose a Shiv Sainik of Balasaheb Thackeray."

BJP and Shiv Sena had contested the 2019 Assembly elections in Maharashtra in an alliance. However after the alliance emerged victorious, Sena parted ways from the BJP-led coalition over the issue of the Chief Minister’s post, which the Shiv Sena wanted to occupy first, for at least a period of 2.5 years. Even before the break-up, during the latter years of Fadnavis' tenure, some Sena leaders like Sanjay Raut had been outspoken, garrulous and often also abusive in their remarks against the then Chief Minister. Thackeray later joined hands with the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

Sanjay Raut, a loyalist of the Shiv Sena and Uddhav and the combative 'blue-eyed boy of NCP (as per the Shinde camp)', had just a couple of days ago reminded how Amit Shah had promised Shiv Sena in Balasaheb Thackeray's room at Matoshree that the CM can be from Shiv Sena. The Sena spokesperson had said, "But BJP breached their word, and hence, Shinde is not the CM today."

Minutes ahead of taking the oath of office, Shinde said, "I express my gratitude to him along with PM Modi, Amit Shah and other BJP leaders that they showed generosity and made Balasaheb's Sainik the CM." 

From the 'wait and watch' stand, Fadnavis switched to the 'action' mode when he flew to Delhi along with Rajya Sabha member and leading lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani to discuss legal issues with the high command, including Amit Shah. The very same day, the Governor was approached, and a letter was submitted, in which it was stated that the MVA government seems to have lost majority, and hence, a floor test was sought. Pursuant to that, Bhagat Singh Koshyari through a letter asked the government to face a floor test and prove the majority by convening a special session of the state legislature on June 30.

A plea was moved by the Uddhav Thackeray camp in the Supreme Court against Maharashtra Governor’s directions. However, after a marathon hearing, the vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala in a brief order, said, "We are not staying the Floor Test". Following this, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as Maharashtra CM. Also, as a member of the Legislative Council. Post this, the floor test became redundant, and now, the Eknath Shinde-era is set to begin.