'I was BETRAYED by...', Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray tells cabinet colleagues

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday told his cabinet colleagues that he was “betrayed by his own people”, apparently referring to the current political crisis in the MVA government. Thackeray said this while chairing a cabinet meeting while hearing on his government's petition challenging the governor's directive to conduct a floor test to prove majority was underway. 

 

#WATCH | Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray leaves from Mantralaya in Mumbai, after the state cabinet meeting concludes. pic.twitter.com/la9y25r4HE — ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

 

News agency PTI cited an official saying that Thackeray told his cabinet colleagues that he had been betrayed by his own people. "I also apologize if I have hurt anyone unintentionally," the official quoted Thackeray as saying. The ministers clapped after the chief minister addressed the meeting, he added. 

 

Mumbai: CM Uddhav Thackeray further said that he received the support of Congress and NCP but unfortunately he didn't get the support of his own party's (Shiv Sena) people: NCP leader & Maharashtra minister Jayant Patil after state cabinet meeting pic.twitter.com/o8ZIyUjc4J — ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

 

The fate of the Thackeray government hangs in balance as senior minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde has rebelled against the party leadership along with majority of Sena legislators. The official also said the chief minister did not say anything or hint that he was planning to quit before a possible trust vote on Thursday. 

"He thanked the cabinet for their cooperation and said the cooperation would continue, " Congress Minister Sunil Kedar told reporters. To a question about whether the MVA government would survive the rebellion by Eknath Shinde, Kedar said, "Every MLA in the house would vote as per his conscience, considering the manner in which Thackeray has led the state's battle against COVID-19.”

 

CM said that we cooperate with him well and he will expect similar cooperation from us in the future as well. He also said that he will behave with us in a similar manner: Sunil Kedar, Maharashtra minister and Congress leader after the state cabinet meeting, in Mumbai pic.twitter.com/YvrWdpIpTK

— ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

 

"Uddhav Thackeray will not stop nor he will be defeated, " the Congress leader said. Kedar appealed to people to consider that a conspiracy was hatched against Thackeray who led the state efficiently during the pandemic and also resumed his official duties soon after undergoing critical spine surgery. 

A major decision taken by the cabinet on Wednesday was the renaming of Aurangabad city as Sambhajinagar. 

Over a week after the Shiv Sena legislators led by Eknath Shinde rebelled against the party, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take a floor test on Thursday, although the Shiv Sena approached the Supreme Court challenging the direction.

Shinde on Wednesday claimed the support of 50 dissident MLAs from his own party and independents, contending that they can pass ''any floor test'' number. Visiting the Kamakhya temple here for the second time in the day, Shinde asserted, "We have 50 MLAs with us, more than two-third of the legislators. We are not worried about the floor test and we will pass the test.''