Uddhav resigns: Maha CM quits minutes after SC refuses to stay floor test

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray resigned on Wednesday, minutes after the Supreme Court ruled that he must prove on Thursday that his government still has a majority. "We respect the Supreme Court judgment. Democracy must be followed," Uddhav Thackeray said in an online address, announcing that he was quitting as Chief Minister as well as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council.

He then left for the Governor's residence to hand over his resignation. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra and his team, reduced to just about 15 MLAs, had asked the court to stop the floor test called by the Governor. The Supreme Court, however, said that the result of the vote on Thursday will be subject to its verdict on July 11, when it will decide whether a section of MLAs from the Sena should be disqualified, as requested by Thackeray's side.

Thackeray's seeking of court intervention was an attempt to buy time. A total of 39 MLAs from his own party have turned against him, led by Eknath Shinde, a senior Sena leader.

They contend that their faction - far larger in size than the Chief Minister's - is now the real Shiv Sena and that the party must exit the current government, which includes the Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP as its allies, and re-enter its earlier partnership with the BJP. Eight days ago, Shinde launched a revolt by exiting Mumbai late at night with a cohort of MLAs.