Signs That Uddhav Thackeray Will Quit If He Loses Supreme Court Case

Hours before the Supreme Court said he must prove his majority tomorrow, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray appeared to hint at an exit before facing a vote that may not go in his favour.

Uddhav Thackeray thanked his ministerial colleagues at an oddly-timed cabinet meeting in which big decisions were taken this evening. The cabinet okayed the renaming of two cities and an airport - long-pending decisions taken at a time there is a tussle over who represents the real Shiv Sena.

Mr Thackeray thanked ministers for the cooperation they had extended in the last two-and-a-half years and also talked about his own people stabbing him in the back.

Many interpreted it as a farewell speech of sorts, but team Thackeray denied any exit plan.

"The Chief Minister thanked everyone. He said my own people have stabbed me in the back," said Arvind Sawant, Shiv Sena spokesperson.

"Yeah it may seem like a farewell but the Chief Minister didn't say he's resigning," said the MP.

Mr Sawant pointed out that Mr Thackeray had already vacated the Chief Minister's home.

"Let him decide. He may not run away (from a floor test). Let the rebels look him in the eye and say we have left you," he said.

"I don't think it will happen that way. I think he will face a floor test."

If the Supreme Court sides with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Uddhav Thackeray would not want to go through with the vote in the assembly, sources said.

Mr Thackeray has been reduced to a minority in the Shiv Sena, which was founded by his father Bal Thackeray. Reports suggest the Shiv Sena chief stopped short of resigning twice, persuaded by ally Sharad Pawar to change his mind and fight back.

In the past week, close to 40 MLAs have joined Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde, and two appeals from Mr Thackeray have failed to bring any of them around.

Mr Shinde claims he has the support of nearly 50 MLAs, some 40 of them from the Shiv Sena. The majority mark currently stands at 144 in the 287-member assembly. The ruling alliance of the Shiv Sena, Congress and Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, or NCP, has 152 MLAs.

Outnumbered and outmaneuvered, team Thackeray has hit out at the Sena rebels, calling them traitors trying to falsely claim the legacy of Bal Thackeray.