Maharashtra suffered its third political crisis in four years on Wednesday after the Shiv Sena said six of the Shiv Sena’s nine Lok Sabha members (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) had signed a letter to form a separate caucus and plan to merge with the Sena, triggering an angry reaction from the latter amid confusion over the actual number of rebels.
Led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the Sena said six rebel Sena (UBT) MPs – Sanjay Jadhav, Bhausaheb Wakchor, Sanjay Deshmukh, Nagesh Patil Ashtekar, Sanjay Patel and Umraji Nimbalkar – had signed a letter stating that they had formed a separate group.
“Six MPs have formed a group. We are told that they have submitted a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker,” Senate Secretary Kiran Bawaskar said. At least six lawmakers will have to form a separate group to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law.
Party MP Shrikant Shinde and state transport minister Pratap Sarnaik met the Speaker on Wednesday along with Sena MPs (UBT), the Shiv Sena minister said. “The MPs submitted a four-page letter to Birla, in which they also said they have no confidence in the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, adding that it has strayed from the principles of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray,” the Shiv Sena minister said on condition of anonymity.
A senior Lok Sabha official told HT that there is no confirmation if the speaker has received any letter from Shiv Sena or any other party.
However, Sanjay Patel indicated during the day that they were not part of the rebel group, raising doubts about the total number of rebels.
North East Mumbai MP Sanjay Patil said: “I have made it clear that I will not join any other party. I am very much in Mumbai today and will also attend the party meeting scheduled for Thursday in New Delhi.”
“I did not receive any offer and no party or political leader contacted me,” Patel said. Police protection was provided to his Bhandup residence in Mumbai amid the dissidence uproar. “My father is in Mumbai and will go to attend the Shiv Sena’s (UBT) meeting of MPs. I don’t know if he has signed the letter submitted to the speaker,” his daughter and Sena (UBT) associate Rajul Patel said.
Late on Tuesday, all six Sena (UBT) MPs traveled to Delhi, and Shinde also rushed to the national capital, as did senior Sena (UBT) leaders Sanjay Raut, Arvind Sawant and Anil Desai, Shiv Sena leaders said. However, Sanjay Patel and Umraji Nepalkar denied traveling to the capital.
Shinde camped out in Delhi for 18 hours, where he consulted legal experts on various aspects of the Sena’s proposed bifurcation (UBT), before returning to Mumbai on Wednesday evening.
Rajya Sabha MP Raut, along with Sawant and Desai, met Birla in the national capital. In an expletive-laden press conference, Raut warned against any potential defections, saying those who wish to leave the party should resign and face the public again.
“If anyone wants to leave, they can resign and leave. If such reports arise about our MPs, they should refute them. This time, the people of Maharashtra will not remain silent,” he said.
Sawant said Sanjay Patil called him to tell him that he would attend the party meeting on Thursday.
Raut claimed that the rebels were bought off. “I received a call from an important person who told me every representative was on offer $50 crores to leave the party. $Rs 15 crore was given as advance. I’ve been told that representatives are not willing to sit on charter planes until they get the advance.
A senior Sena minister in Maharashtra said the rebel MPs were negotiating what they would get in return, which has curbed the defection process.
“Parbhani MP Sanjay Jadhav has been assured that he will become a minister of state in the Union government, but another MP is demanding a ministerial seat,” the minister, who requested anonymity, added.
Two MPs also demanded an assurance that the Mahayoti Alliance will allocate its Lok Sabha constituencies to the Senate during the next general elections and that they will be sent to the polls. Both constituencies are now with the BJP.
“Shinde conveyed both the demands to the BJP leadership, but there was no response till late Wednesday,” the minister said.
On allegations that the BJP is engineering a split in the Sena’s Lok Sabha unit (UBT), Maharashtra Revenue Minister and senior BJP leader Chandrashekhar Pawankole said: “The BJP has nothing to do with Operation Tiger. We know nothing about it.”
This is the third crisis in Maharashtra after the vertical splits in the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party in 2022 and 2023. The developments come almost a week after 20 rebel Trinamool Congress lawmakers proposed merging with the little-known Indian Nationalist Citizens Party and supporting the National Democratic Alliance, boosting the ruling coalition’s numbers in the Lok Sabha.
After the meeting with Birla, Desai told reporters that they had submitted a report to the Speaker, urging him to beware of any illegal defection.
“Under the law, one cannot simply merge with a party even if it has the support of two-thirds of MPs. Only the original party can merge if the group has the required two-thirds strength,” he said.
“The discretion lies with the Speaker. So if a group claiming two-thirds support comes close to merging with another party, that group cannot be recognized under the rules, as only the original party can merge under the provisions. Even if there are six MPs, it does not matter,” Desai added.
