How Uddhav's Impulsive Resignation in 2022 Closed Doors to His Comeback as Maharashtra CM

Did Uddhav Thackeray show his political inexperience by resigning as the chief minister of Maharashtra on June 29, 2022, after being in the chair for two-and-a-half years?

The man catapulted to the CM’s chair for the first time as a result of an unlikely alliance may have missed a trick, with the Supreme Court now saying it could have reinstated him had he not resigned.

Uddav Thackeray has said he resigned out of “morality” but the fact remains that the same was prompted by the Supreme Court earlier that day refusing to stay the trust vote in the state assembly. The trust vote subsequently never happened.

The resignation has also led to the SC ruling that the Governor’s decision to invite and swear-in Eknath Shinde as the next CM was “justified”.

Many also say the resignation was a unilateral decision by Uddhav Thackeray without consulting his Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners like Sharad Pawar and the Congress, but only his closest aides.

Had he participated in the trust vote and lost as all anticipated that he would, Uddhav Thackeray would not only have had the chance to play ‘martyr’ then but also would have been back as the chief minister on Thursday after the apex court judgement.

“The status quo ante cannot be restored because Mr Thackeray did not face the floor test and tendered his resignation,” the Supreme Court judgment said.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took potshots at Uddhav Thackeray, saying the latter had not resigned out of morality but out of “embarrassment” as most of his MLAs had deserted him and he had no support.

To Uddhav Thackeray’s retort that Shinde and Fadnavis should resign out of morality, Fadnavis said the former CM had no right to speak of morality given that he formed the government with his political opponents after fighting the election alongside the BJP.

If Uddhav Thackeray had participated in the trust vote, the SC’s direction on June 29, 2022, would also have kicked in — “The proceedings of the trust vote to be convened on 30-6-2022 shall be subject to the final outcome of the instant Writ Petition as well the Writ Petitions referred to above.”

This could have meant his return as the chief minister as the Supreme Court on Thursday held the decisions of the Governor and the Speaker to be against the law.

But that one impulsive decision of June 29, 2022, meant that was not to be.