Uddhav Thackeray stakes claim to form 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' government

Shiv Sena chief and leader of 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' Uddhav Thackeray. Picture/Twitter Office of Uddhav Thackeray

Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine's Chief Ministerial nominee Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday night reached Raj Bhavan and staked claim to form government in Maharashtra. Thackeray, who heads the Shiv Sena, was accompanied by legislature party leaders of the Sena, the NCP, and the Congress, a Sena leader said.

"We are submitting a joint statement of staking a claim for government formation before the governor. We will also produce proof of the support of all the MLAs of the three parties to the governor as a part of the mandatory procedure," said the leader.

Earlier, during a joint meeting of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP MLAs at a hotel in Mumbai, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said, "Three representatives of 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' will meet the Governor today. Swearing-in ceremony to be held at Shivaji Park, Mumbai on December 1."

At the joint meeting, all the MLAs of Sena-NCP-Congress alliance passed a unanimous resolution supporting Uddhav Thackeray's name as the chief ministerial candidate and the leader of 'Maha Vikas Aghadi'. The decision came a few hours after the four-day-old BJP government led by Devendra Fadnavis and supported by NCP's Ajit Pawar collapsed.

Upon being elected as the leader of the Sena-NCP-Cong alliance, Uddhav Thackeray said, "I had never dreamed of leading the state. I would like to thank Sonia Gandhi and others. We are giving a new direction to the country by keeping faith on each other."

On Wednesday in a special assembly session protem Speaker Kalidas Kolambkar is expected to swear in the new MLAs.

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