The Supreme Court’s conclusions gave former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray a much-needed plank in the face of a loss to set a narrative that he had resigned on moral grounds. As he asked his successor to also vacate his post on moral grounds like he did, Eknath Shinde hit back, accusing the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief of double standards. “Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should resign on moral grounds like I did,” Thackeray said after the SC delivered the verdict on Thursday.

`You quit out of fear’

Shinde, while addressing a press conference with his deputy Fadnavis, said, “You knew that you had lost support. You quit because of the fear of shame that would follow your defeat in the House. You had no option. Where was your morality when you insulted the mandate and gave up Balasaheb`s [Thackeray] ideology?” Fadnavis added, “Thackeray quit the ideology for power [in forming the Maha Vikas Aghadi]. Shinde quit power for ideology [in joining the BJP].”