How Uddhav Thackeray retained CM post amid coronavirus lockdown?
Here is the full timeline of how Udhhav Thackeray avoided political crisis in Maharashtra
Uddhav Thackeray finally became the Member of Legislative Council almost 6 months after he took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Maharashtra CM was not a member in either of the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council. He had to become a member of either of the house before 27th May to avoid a potential political crisis. CM Thackeray was elected unopposed to the council on 14th May.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government which is already in the pressure of controlling the spread of coronavirus would have definitely taken a sigh of relief after the unopposed election.
Timeline
It was not easy for Uddhav Thackeray to retain the CM post as he faced numerous challenges. At one point he even offered his resignation.
CM Uddhav was banking on the Legislative Council election which was to be conducted on March 26. But the election was postponed due to the global pandemic.
So, on April 9, the state cabinet of Maharashtra asked the Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to nominate Uddhav Thackeray to the legislative council. But Bhagat Singh Koshyari chose to ignore the recommendation. The state cabinet led by Ajit Powar repeated its recommendation on April 27.
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Uddhav Thackeray asked PM Modi to intervene in the matter
The governor declined again. This led the CM of Maharashtra to reach Prime Minister asking him to step-in. Sanjay Raut, senior Shiv Sena leader said to a newspaper that Uddhav Thackeray asked Prime Minister to intervene in the matter. CM was even ready to resign if the situation persisted. To which PM Modi said “Mai Dekhta Hun”.
Other Shiv Sena leaders said that Thackeray had told the PMO that attempts are being made to destabilize the Maharashtra government at a time when the state is battling against a deadly outbreak of COVID-19.
Soon after the contact of CM Thackeray to the PMO, Governor Koshyari wrote to election commission about conducting an election as soon as possible for the nine vacant Council seats.
The coalition government of Shiv Sena- NCP- Congress had six candidates for the nine seats while BJP has four seats and the extra candidate meant that voting had to happen.
An emergency meeting was held among the top leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition to avoid a vote in the middle of a health emergency. Congress withdrew its one candidate which cleared the path for Uddhav Thackeray’s entry into the Legislative council.
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