- Monday, May 05, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
TWO major developments took place involving India on Wednesday (29) and in two different fields – both of which are equally popular in an average Indian’s life. And a similarity between the two events was that they happened around two men from Maharashtra.
The first one was the resignation of Uddhav Thackeray, the chief minister of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (Maharashtra Development Front) government of Maharashtra, which is also India’s richest state. Thackeray’s position looked shaky after several legislators of his own party revolted against the government and the leadership and it was a matter of time for the Sena leader to step down as the coalition government was always going to struggle to get the required number of lawmakers to prove its majority in the assembly.
As soon as India’s Supreme Court refused to stay the floor test which was supposed to be held on Thursday (30), the writing was on the wall and Thackeray, son of the late firebrand Maharashtrian leader and founder of the Sena, Bal Thackeray, quit.
The Maharashtra assembly originally has 288 seats (287 now due to the death of one Sena lawmaker) and any party or alliance would need 144 seats to form the government. The implosion in the Sena, which had around 50-plus lawmakers, ensured that the MVA government would fall short of the majority.
The other development was centred around Rohit Sharma, India’s cricket captain. The ace batter from Mumbai, who tested positive for Covid-19 recently, tested positive yet again on Wednesday and it meant that he could no longer be a part of the Indian XI that will take on England in the delayed fifth Test at Edgbaston starting Friday (1). The absence of Sharma meant Jasprit Bumrah, who has been elevated as the vice captain in Tests in recent months, will lead India in the high-profile clash.
Both 61-year-old Thackeray (born in Mumbai) and 35-year-old Sharma (born in Nagpur but plays for Mumbai) made the headlines in India late on Wednesday for the wrong reasons and Twitter was flooded with posts on them, with many sympathizing for the two leaders – in politics and cricket.
Here are some Twitter reactions on Thackeray’s resignation:
A big thank you to Shri #UddhavThackeray ji for being progressive, proactive, and caring Chief Minister of Maharashtra.Thank you for guiding & communicating with us citizens during the most difficult and dark times that humanity has ever faced -the covid pandemic. @OfficeofUT pic.twitter.com/CIRts1q6CB
— Riteish Deshmukh (@Riteishd) June 30, 2022
2019 I tweeted the dilapidated school conditions in ruralvillages of Marathwada. Immediately @AUThackeray replied ‘we are in aurangabad let’sdiscuss.
Thank you @OfficeofUT sir for patiently listening to all the ground realities.Your humility humbleness will stay with me forever? pic.twitter.com/BG2FPqiAU1— Rajshri Deshpande (@rajshriartist) June 30, 2022
Uddhav Thackeray could have been a great ally but chose to wear bigger shoes. Ended up not just losing face,but also a legacy that would have very well been his. Bad politician.
— Janani Sampath Veeravalli✍️ ?? (@jananisampath) June 29, 2022
Durbaris and Bollywood chorines are in such a bind today, having to praise Uddhav Thackeray while holding back on outraging on his decision to change Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar. They'd have called it an anti-Muslim, Hindutva-driven fascist step had the BJP changed the name.
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) June 30, 2022
Uddhav Thackeray cemented his image as a classy & graceful leader even in defeat in his resignation speech
— Swati Chaturvedi (@bainjal) June 30, 2022
Thank you for your effective leadership in difficult times @OfficeofUT & @AUThackeray.
Many roads yet to be walked, many battles yet to be won.
Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra. ??
— VISHAL DADLANI (@VishalDadlani) June 30, 2022
Eknath Shinde did not betray Uddhav Thackeray. Uddhav Thackeray betrayed Balasaheb Thackeray’s idea of Shiv Sena, Eknath only upheld that identity of Shiv Sena.
— Savio Rodrigues ?? (@PrinceArihan) June 30, 2022
And here are some reactions that Twitter came up with over Sharma’s absence in the fifth Test:
Next level consistency @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/I3mtwEgHxK
— Gaurav (@Kohli4ever) June 29, 2022
Graeme Swann said (in TOI) "Rohit Sharma is a great leader, he knows how to win, he has won titles as a Captain". pic.twitter.com/1TiOQf7O6N
— Rohit Sharma Fanclub India (@Imro_fanclub) June 29, 2022
"Whenever you lose your leader, who's also one of your best Batters, it's incredibly tough for your team. It Will be a big loss if Rohit Sharma doesn't play, but only time will tell how big a loss that could be." – Dawid Malan
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) June 30, 2022
Let me expose Rohit Sharma's overrated Test career [A THREAD]: pic.twitter.com/PxngJfXHqq
— Sai Krishna? (@SaiKingkohli) June 29, 2022
There is still hope that Rohit Sharma can play the final test. Please God make it happen…?
— ANSHUMAN? (@AvengerReturns) June 29, 2022
Overseas tests existing
Rohit sharma from last one year :- pic.twitter.com/tiMxGEsVIo— indian team fan (@ictfanmr) June 26, 2022
Rohit Sharma has missed more SENA test matches than he played pic.twitter.com/UuCloia37k
— V༙I༙R༙A༙T༙ S༙T༙A༙N༙ ᵛᵏ (@Viratstan_) June 29, 2022
