Initial Breakout Immediately after the Legislative council election results,
Eknath Shinde, a senior Shiv Sena leader, disappeared and could not be contacted. On 21 June 2022, a meeting was called by Uddhav Thackeray with all his MLAs, but 10-12 MLAs were also unreachable. 11 MLAs of
Shiv Sena, led by Shinde, flew to
Surat city, in the
BJP governed state of
Gujarat. Shinde was removed from the post of the Shiv Sena party whip. Shinde removed the word Shiv Sena from his
Twitter profile. In his hotel in Surat he had several meetings with the BJP leaders. Shinde required support of 37 MLAs (two-thirds of the total strength of 55) to avoid being disqualified under the
Anti-defection laws in India.
Stay at Guwahati On 22 June, Shinde said that he had moved 40 legislators to
Guwahati, Assam. Several INC and NCP leaders criticized
Himanta Biswa Sarma, CM of Assam, for interfering in Maharashtra politics instead of focusing on the
massive flood in Assam. Sarma denied the knowledge of Shinde and his stay with the other rebel MLAs in Guwahati. After failing to convince Shinde to return to Mumbai, on 22 June,
Uddhav Thackeray,
Chief Minister of Maharashtra, declared that he was ready to step down as the leader of the alliance and as Chief Minister. Later that day, Uddhav Thackeray moved from the residence of the CM
Varsha to his private residence,
Matoshree. Shiv Sena MLA
Udaysingh Rajput said that he was offered in cash to join the rebel group but he declined. On 23 June, Shinde and 37 MLAs declared Shinde leader of the Shiv Sena legislature party. On 24 June, Shiv Sena filed a petition against the rebel MLAs and demanded the
Deputy speaker Narahari Zirwal of the Maharashtra Assembly to disqualify 16 MLAs of the Shinde camp. Zirwal met with Shiv Sena leaders and later also met with the
Advocate General of Maharashtra for legal opinion. Both Thackeray and Shinde camp leaders were asked to present their arguments about the disqualification. A
no-confidence motion against Zirwal was brought by two independent MLAs supporting BJP. This no-confidence vote, signed by 34 MLAs was rejected by Zirwal reportedly because the petition was sent through an anonymous e-mail and not submitted by an MLA himself. On the same day, Eknath Shinde, Home minister
Amit Shah and former chief minister
Devendra Fadnavis met in
Vadodara, Gujarat, reportedly to plan a merger or coalition to topple the MVA government. The office of a rebel Shiv Sena leader was allegedly vandalized by members of the Shiv Sena. On 26 June, Eknath Shinde moved to the
Supreme Court of India to dispute the rejection of the no-confidence vote against the Deputy speaker, and challenge the disqualification plea against 16 of them. According to Shiv Sena at least 20 MLAs in Shinde's camp were communicating with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Some of them did not support merging the breakaway group with the BJP.
Resignation of Uddhav Thackeray On 28 June,
Devendra Fadnavis met
Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari and demanded a motion of no confidence against Uddhav Thackeray. On 29 June, Koshiyari ordered a trust vote motion to be held and the assembly strength of the government be proven by 30 June. Shiv Sena immediately moved to the Supreme court against this order. On the same day, the supreme court refused to stay the no-confidence motion and ordered it to be conducted the next day on 30 June stating that “The floor of the House is the only way to settle all issues.” A few hours later, Uddhav Thackeray resigned from the post of Chief Minister of Maharashtra and said that he will also resign from the
Maharashtra Legislative Council after the supreme court decision while addressing on social media. On 17 February 2023, the
Electoral Commission allotted the name
Shiv Sena and the party symbol of bow and arrow to
Eknath Shinde's faction. This officially concluded the political crisis and officially defined
Eknath Shinde as the sole leader of
Shiv Sena. == Formation of new government ==