'Uddhav Thackeray Will Be CM For 5 Years', Says Sanjay Raut After Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar Resign

In dramatic turn of events in Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister by Governor Bhagat Singh in a hush-hush ceremony on Saturday morning at the Raj Bhavan

Uddhav Thackeray Will Be CM For 5 Yrs, Says Sanjay Raut After Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar Resign/ Photo: PTI

Mumbai: Moments after news surfaced that Ajit Pawar resigned from Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister’s post, Shiv Sena leader on Tuesday said his party leader Uddhav Thackeray will be the chief Minister of Maharashtra for five years and confirmed that Ajit Pawar is back with the Sena-NCP-Congress alliance. "Ajit dada has resigned and he is with us. Uddhav Thackeray will be the chief Minister of Maharashtra for five years," Raut said. In dramatic turn of events in Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar on Tuesday resigned as Maharashtra Deputy CM to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. According to reports, Ajit Pawar visited Devendra Fadnavis' residence to inform about his decision. The development comes as a massive setback to the BJP, which was confident of winning the floor test on Wednesday. BJP's Devendra Fadnavis announced his resignation as Maharashtra's chief minister; hours after the apex court ordered a floor test in the state assembly tomorrow. The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that a floor test for Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to prove his majority in the Assembly be conducted on Wednesday. "After this (press conference) I will go to Raj Bhavan and tender my resignation. I wish them all the best whoever will form the government. But that will be a very unstable government as there is huge difference of opinions," Fadnavis said while announcing his resignation. "We waited for them (Shiv Sena) for a long time but they did not respond and instead talked to Congress-NCP. People who never stepped outside Matoshree (Thackeray residence) to meet anyone were going door to door to make government with NCP and Congress," he said. The BJP and the Sena, which fought the last month's Assembly polls in an alliance, secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats respectively. The Sena, however, broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister's post. The NCP and Congress won 54 and 44 seats respectively. (With ANI Inputs)