Governor Acted Like BJP Man: Aaditya Thackeray After Supreme Court Verdict

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former minister Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday said the Supreme Court's ruling on the 2022 political crisis in Maharashtra has vindicated his long-held stand that the Eknath Shinde-led government is "illegal and unconstitutional".

He said all 40 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs who revolted against the party leadership in June last year will be disqualified in two to three months when Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar decides on the issue.

Delivering the much-awaited verdict on a batch of petitions related to the political crisis triggered by a revolt in the undivided Shiv Sena, the Supreme Court on Thursday held it cannot restore the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by then-chief minister Uddhav Thackeray as he resigned without facing a floor test in June last year, meaning Eknath Shinde will continue as the chief minister of Maharashtra.

"I have been saying this that the (Shinde) government is illegal and unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court judgment has validated it," the junior Thackeray told reporters.

In its judgement, the Supreme Court pulled up then-Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and said he did not have reasons based on objective material before him to arrive at the conclusion that then chief minister Thackeray had lost the confidence of the House.

The Governor was more like a "BJP person" and played a role in toppling the MVA government, Aaditya Thackeray alleged.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)