Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Friday said that party chief Uddhav Thackeray’s son… Aditya Thackeray has the ability to lead the group, which he claimed is still going strong despite suffering two splits in four years.
Raut called on the “next generation” to gradually take over the leadership of the party and hailed the young Thackeray as a potential next leader.
“For how many years will we continue to work? We have been working for 40 years. Young leaders have to take over the leadership of the party, and he (Aditya) is doing that. He will do it formally as well; he has the ability, we will welcome him,” Raut told news agency PTI ahead of party president Uddhav Thackeray’s scheduled tour of the constituencies represented by the six party MPs who recently joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Sanjay Raut claimed that the six rebel MPs changed their loyalties only for money, power and protection. Raut said the leaders who left the Uddhav Thackeray-led party were not “rebels” in the true sense of the word, arguing that the word should be reserved for freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh, and not used for politicians.
Raut said Uddhav Thackeray’s tour was part of an awareness campaign to explain the party’s stand directly to voters and workers in the dissenting MPs’ constituencies.
Two defections in four years
Six of the nine Lok Sabha MPs from Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) submitted a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker earlier this month to form a separate group, eventually merging with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena to support the BJP-led NDA regime led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This is the second major break in Bal Thackeray’s original Sena in four years.
It is learned that Eknath Shinde, who masterminded the first split in 2022, was in touch with the rebel MPs and assured them of full support, and his son and MP Shrikant Shinde played a key role in coordinating the discussions in Delhi.
The MPs who were part of the second split were Sanjay Jadhav (MP from Parbhani), Bhausaheb Wakshuri (Shirdi), Sanjay Deshmukh (Yavatmal-Washim), Nagesh Patil Ashtekar (Hingoli), Sanjay Dina Patel (North East Mumbai) and Umraji Nepalkar (Dharashiv). Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai and Rajabhau Waje, along with Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, have openly remained in Thackeray’s fold.
Uddhav Thackeray, in his first comments on the impending split, rejected the rebels’ stated rationale that they feared a Congress merger, asserting that the Shiv Sena was not born to merge with anyone. “It was created to fight for the rights of Marathi people and protect Hindutva,” he told party workers.
He then criticized the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre. “I fear that the Maharashtra BJP will merge with the Shinde Sena,” he said.
After the 2022 split, 40 of the 56 Shiv Sena MPs sided with Shinde and 16 sided with Thackeray, while in the Lok Sabha, 13 of the 18 MPs joined Shinde’s camp and five remained with Uddhav. Both claimed to be heirs to Bal Thackeray’s political legacy, with Uddhav asserting that he is a descendant, while Shinde said he adheres to the ideological line.
Thackeray was rebuilt from that base of five members. Contesting with a new name, ‘Shiva Sena (UBT)’ and a burning torch as a symbol after the Election Commission handed over the name to Shinde and the bow and arrow in February 2023, Uddhav’s team won nine seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It was seen as a credible performer for a stripped-down party.
However, the Maharashtra Assembly elections in November 2024 were tougher. The Shiv Sena (UBT) won only 20 of the 95 seats it contested, versus the Shindhi Sena, which won 57 of 87 seats. In January 2026, the rout was complete, with the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance winning decisively in the BMC elections, ending the Thackeray clan’s control over India’s richest civic body. Each election cycle eroded the organization further, until the parliamentary ground gave way as well.
Mutins in Shiv Sena over the years
The current rebellion is the most severe in a series of events over the years. The first serious challenge to Bal Thackeray’s authority came in 1991, when senior leader Chhagan Bhujbal walked out with 17 NCP MLAs to join the camp of Sharad Pawar, who later served as a minister and deputy prime minister in the Congress and NCP governments. After that also came Narayan Rane’s dismissal and departure in 2005.
But Bal Thackeray kept the organization together until his death in November 2012. His nephew Raj Thackeray had already left in 2005 to form the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena after his son Uddhav was named the party’s heir. Uddhav’s son, Aditya, later emerged as the leader of the Sena’s youth wing.
Raj and Uddhav recently came together to form an alliance, as politics in Maharashtra have changed rapidly in recent years.
