Editor's Pick: Uddhav Thackeray says "ready to resign"

Shiv Sena’s second-in-command Eknath Shinde’s revolt against party chief and incumbent Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday turned into a battle for control of the party. In an emotional address on Facebook, Mr Thackeray said he was willing to resign as the Chief Minister and from the party’s top leadership position if instructed by his party workers. However, he needed an assurance that the next Chief Minister would be a ‘Shiv Sainik’. Mr Thackeray added that it wasn’t the allies in the state government asking him to quit, but his own ‘Shiv Sainikis’. “I am ready to resign. But come and meet me face-to-face. Tell me that I should quit to my face and I will resign,” he stated in his address. The incumbent Chief Minister, later in the evening, exited the Chief Minister’s official residence in south Mumbai to his family house, Matoshri in suburban Bandra. Sena workers lined up on the road to Matorshri as a show of strength. Meanwhile, Mr Shinde who is in Guwahati (Assam) along with his loyalists, tweeting with the hashtag HinduForever, said the party must consider quitting the “unnatural alliance” with ideologically-opposed parties, for its own survival and that of the Shiv Sainikis. He argued that in the last two and a half years, the constituent parties of the ruling alliance were getting stronger whilst Shiv Sainikis were getting overwhelmed. The rebel group stated there was dissatisfaction in the party owing to corruption and misadministration fostered by former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and sitting minority affairs minister Nawab Malik (allegedly involved with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim) – both in jail. In addition to this, he challenged the directive of the party’s chief whip Sunil Prabhu calling for a meeting of all the MLAs on Wednesday evening, referring to it as “legally invalid”. Instead, he appointed MLA Bharat Gogavale as the Chief Representative of the Shiv Sena legislature. Following the incumbent Chief Minister’s address, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar along with Baramati MP Supriya Sule, Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Ahwad and State Unit Chief Jayant Patil held a meeting with him. The Congress and the NCP have called all their MLAs to Mumbai on Thursday. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more. Click here The Hindu’s Editorials High office: On the Opposition and presidential polls No cause for alarm: On the fresh surge in COVID-19 cases The Hindu’s Daily Quiz Supreme Court judges now retire at 65. What is the retirement age of High Court judges? 60 58 62 65 To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here [logo] Editor's Pick 23 JUNE 2022 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Uddhav Thackeray says “ready to resign” [Shiv Sena’s second-in-command Eknath Shinde]( revolt against party chief and incumbent Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday turned into [a battle for control of the party](. In an emotional address on Facebook, Mr Thackeray said he was willing to resign as the Chief Minister and from the party’s top leadership position if instructed by his party workers. However, he needed an assurance that the next Chief Minister would be a ‘Shiv Sainik’. Mr Thackeray added that it wasn’t the allies in the state government asking him to quit, but his own ‘Shiv Sainikis’. “[I am ready to resign.]( But come and meet me face-to-face. Tell me that I should quit to my face and I will resign,” he stated in his address. The incumbent Chief Minister, later in the evening, exited the Chief Minister’s official residence in south Mumbai to his family house, Matoshri in suburban Bandra. Sena workers lined up on the road to Matorshri as a show of strength. Meanwhile, [Mr Shinde who is in Guwahati (Assam) along with his loyalists]( tweeting with the hashtag HinduForever, said the party must consider quitting the “unnatural alliance” with ideologically-opposed parties, for its own survival and that of the Shiv Sainikis. He argued that in the last two and a half years, the constituent parties of the ruling alliance were getting stronger whilst Shiv Sainikis were getting overwhelmed. The rebel group stated there was dissatisfaction in the party owing to corruption and misadministration fostered by former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and sitting minority affairs minister Nawab Malik (allegedly involved with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim) – both in jail. In addition to this, he challenged the directive of the party’s chief whip Sunil Prabhu calling for a meeting of all the MLAs on Wednesday evening, referring to it as “legally invalid”. Instead, he appointed MLA Bharat Gogavale as the Chief Representative of the Shiv Sena legislature. Following the incumbent Chief Minister’s address, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar along with Baramati MP Supriya Sule, Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Ahwad and State Unit Chief Jayant Patil held a meeting with him. The Congress and the NCP have called all their MLAs to Mumbai on Thursday. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more.  [Click here]( The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][High office: On the Opposition and presidential pollsÂ]( [Arrow][No cause for alarm: On the fresh surge in COVID-19 casesÂ]( The Hindu’s Daily Quiz Supreme Court judges now retire at 65. 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