There is jubilation in the Shiv Sena. Party workers were already optimistic after Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling on the floor test in the Mahrashtra Assembly on Wednesday and when Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar resigned as Chief Minister and Deputy CM respectively, Shiv Sainiks started early celebrations.
Senior Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday that Uddhav Thackeray will be teh Chief Minister for a full five years, supported by the Congress and NCP.
Newly elected Shiv Sena legislators have been ensconced in a suburban luxury hotel since Friday. On Tuesday morning, as details of the Supreme Court hearing started flashing across television channels, the Sainiks heaved a sigh of relief.
Speaking to The Hindu from New Delhi, senior Sena leader Anil Parab said, “We have majority beyond 162 now. We have won the battle, it just has to be endorsed now.” As Mr. Parab and other Sena leaders returned from Delhi, they were welcomed at Mumbai airport by party workers with dhols and sloganeering.
“We thank the SC for this decision. We (Sena, Congress, NCP) have around 170 legislators. We will now give a stable government. Balasaheb Thackeray's dream (of having a Shiv Sena CM) appears to be coming true,” said Sena legislative party leader Eknath Shinde.
Earlier in the day, four Sena MPs stayed away from the ‘Sanvidhan Din’ (Constitution Day) celebrations in Parliament saying the government are “bruising, abusing, misusing and insulting the sanctity of the Constitution of India everyday”.
As news of the resignations first of Mr. Pawar and later of Mr. Fadnavis started trickling in, the Sena MLAs began celebrating in earnest at the hotel, congratulating each other. Celebrations also erupted outside the Sena office, Shivalaya, at Nariman Point.
Senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut said, “Uddhav Thackeray will be the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for five years, supported by Congress and NCP. No rotational chief minister.”
“It appears that Balasaheb Thackeray’s dream of having a Shiv Sena CM is coming true,” said Mr Parab.
Adding to the umpteen conspiracy theories doing the rounds, just before the mega-meeting of all Sena, Congress, NCP and other parties in the alliance, Mr. Raut made a cryptic statement to media persons on Mr Ajit Pawar’s actions over the past four days, including his resignation. “This was part of the plan, I have already said you will need a hundred births to understand Sharad Pawar,” the senior Sena leader said.
