Six Lok Sabha MPs of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) switched to the rival faction led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday.
The defections have reduced the Uddhav Sena’s strength in the Lok Sabha to three MPs and increased the Shinde faction’s tally to 13.
The MPs who have switched sides are Hingoli MP Nagesh Patil Ashtikar, Omprakash Nimbalkar from Osmanabad, Mumbai North-East MP Sanjay Dina Patil, Sanjay Deshmukh from Yavatmal-Washim, Sanjay Jadhav from Parbhani and Bhausaheb Wakchaure from Shirdi.
On Sunday, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis described the act of splitting the Uddhav Sena’s Lok Sabha MPs as an “operation” and said that it had been successful, India Today reported.
Shinde said that “we don’t leave operations incomplete, we complete what we take up”.
Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray on Monday held a meeting with party leaders in Mumbai to discuss “upcoming political developments, organisational matters and the legislature’s strategy”, ANI reported.
He has also called for an emergency meeting of all party legislators, reported The Indian Express on Monday. There have been speculations that the Shinde Sena may try to persuade MLAs, MLCs, and municipal corporators of the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction to defect.
On Friday, Uddhav Thackeray offered an apology to voters who had elected the rebel MPs. He had said that he was willing to resign as the party chief if the workers did not have faith in him but added that he had not lost his resolve to fight.
‘Loyalty for sale’
On Monday, Uddhav Thackeray’s son and party MLA Aaditya Thackeray described the MPs who switched sides as “greedy” and said that their action had proved that their loyalty was “for sale”.
“All of the ones that are jumping over now were elected on the platforms of the MVA [Maha Vikas Aghadi] and the INDIA [bloc], against the NDA [National Democratic Alliance],” Aaditya Thackeray said on social media. “The voters voted against the NDA candidates and for INDIA in your constituencies and for all it stands for.”
He added: “Just accept that your greed got you to ditch all of it overnight, shamelessly.”
Crisis in Uddhav Sena
On Thursday, the six rebel MPs had skipped a meeting of the party’s parliamentary group. The meeting was held a day after the Uddhav Sena alleged that its MPs were being offered Rs 15 crore each to join the Shinde Sena.
It was attended by the other three Lok Sabha MPs of the faction and Raut.
On Friday, the Uddhav Sena initiated disciplinary action against the six MPs.
The Shiv Sena had split in June 2022 after Shinde and 39 MLAs backing him rebelled against the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government that also comprised the undivided Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.
After more than a week of political drama, Shinde had been sworn in as the chief minister with the backing of the BJP. He became the deputy chief minister after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance comprising the Shinde Sena, the BJP and the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP, retained power in the 2024 Assembly polls.
Written by Sneha. Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.
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