Uddhav Thackeray to lead Sena-NCP-Congress alliance as CM

New Delhi : Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray has been elected to lead the Congress-NCP-Sena alliance by the MLAs of the three parties during a meeting on Tuesday evening. The announcement came hours after the BJP's Devendra Fadnavis resigned as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

Uddhav Thackeray is likely to take oath as the new CM on Sunday.

Devendra Fadnavis' second term lasted for around 80 hours and gave up his papers one day before the Supreme Court-ordered floor test in the Maha Assembly.

He resigned shortly after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar quit as his deputy. Ajit Pawar, whose overnight switch had enabled the BJP's Saturday morning coup, gave "personal reasons" for his resignation.

The alliance has claimed the support of 162 MLAs and will be formally meeting the Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to formally stake claim to form a government.

The BJP that had won 105 seats in the elections had formed a government after Ajit Pawar showed them the support of 54 MLAs to fetch the magic figure for the majority.

"Ajit Pawar gave me his resignation. He told me he was resigning because of personal reasons. BJP had decided from the first day we will not indulge in horse-trading. We only decided to form the government because NCP was with us. Since he has resigned, we don't have the numbers. So I have also decided to resign," Fadnavis told reporters.

Earlier, the Supreme Court ordered an immediate floor test after the alliance filed a petition against the sudden government formation by the BJP in Maharashtra.