Uddhav Thackeray Resigns As Maharashtra CM.

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation on June 29, moments after the Supreme Court refused to stay a floor test ordered by the governor scheduled for tomorrow.

"I am resigning as the CM," Thackeray said, adding that he is also quitting his membership in the legislative council.

"I had come (to power) unexpectedly, and I am going out similarly. I am not going away forever; I will be here and sit in Shiv Sena Bhawan once again. I will gather all my people," he further said.

In his final cabinet meeting as CM, Thackeray approved the renamings of Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv, which were long-pending demands of the Shiv Sena.

"I want to express my gratitude to the ministers of NCP and Congress that they supported the proposal to rename the two cities," Thackeray said in a live Facebook address.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) celebrated Thackeray's resignation.

On June 20, more than a dozen Shiv Sena legislators moved to Surat, in BJP-ruled Gujarat, and turned incommunicado.

The rebels were shifted to Guwahati, in the BJP-ruled state of Assam, where they had been camped for more than a week.

BJP, which distanced itself from the Sena's rebellion, has taken action this week. On June 28, Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, requested that Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari call for a floor test as soon as possible.

The governor, earlier today, asked the Thackeray govt to prove its majority by June 30. As a result, Sunil Prabhu, the Shiv Sena's chief whip, had approached the SC, pointing out that 16 of its rebel MLAs had been issued disqualification notices.

This week, the Supreme Court stayed the action against the Sena rebels based on the disqualification notices until July 11.

Sena (55), NCP (53), and Congress (44) are in power, with 155 MLAs in total. The halfway majority mark in Maharashtra's 288-member assembly is 145. Sena's strength has fallen to 16 as a result of the rebellion within its ranks, analysts say.

In the case of a floor test, the Maha Vikas Aghadi govt is expected to demonstrate a total strength of 113 MLAs that will be below the halfway majority mark.

The BJP, poised to return to power following Thackeray's exit, is the single-largest party with 106 MLAs. In the event that the MVA loses the trust vote, Sena is expected to stake a claim for govt formation.

In its order, however, the SC noted that the results of the floor test would be subject to action against the 16 rebel Sena MLAs, against whom the disqualification notice has been stayed until July 11. In the event the 16 rebel legislators are disqualified, then BJP and Shinde-led Sena will have to rely on independent legislators and smaller parties if they are invited to form the next government.