Six of the Shiv Sena’s nine Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) Lok Sabha members were absent from a meeting of the party’s parliamentary wing on Thursday, a day after they signed a letter to form a separate group ahead of a planned merger with the Shiv Sena. The move provided more clarity after confusion over the actual number of rebels, as they need at least six to form a separate group to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law.
The aim of the meeting was to determine how many Lok Sabha members would be present with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and whether he would avoid a split.
Arvind Sawant, leader of the Lok Sabha Shiv Sena (UBT), issued a whip on Wednesday, ordering all nine members to attend the meeting in New Delhi at 11 am the next day. He warned that action would be taken if party members in Parliament were absent from the meeting. “Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has instructed that if any MP defects, he should be trampled on the street,” he said in a direct warning to the rebels.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Lok Sabha member Anil Desai said invitations were sent to all party parliamentarians via WhatsApp, email and other channels. “We also have affidavits confirming that we received the invitation, and we hope that all our parliamentarians will attend the meeting,” Desai said before the meeting.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Vinayak Raut said they would take action against the MPs who disobeyed the whip and skipped the meeting. The party is likely to issue show-cause notices to the six MPs.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat said things would become clear within an hour on the platform of the Shiv Sena’s six MLAs (UBT).
Instead of talking to the MPs, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut started abusing them, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sheetal Mahatre said. “They have shown distrust in the six MPs and are threatening them. They are talking about beating up the MPs. Is Sanjay Raut trying to harm the UBT by doing all this? The UBT should have established a dialogue with the MPs,” he said.
On Wednesday, Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that six rebel Shiv 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.
“We are told that they have submitted a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker,” Sena Secretary Kiran Bawaskar said.
Party MP Shrikant Shinde and Maharashtra Minister Pratap Sarnaik met the Speaker on Wednesday along with Sena MPs (UBT), another Shiv Sena leader 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.”
There is no confirmation if the speaker has received any letter from Shiv Sena or any other party, a Lok Sabha official told HT on Wednesday.
Sanjay Patel indicated on Wednesday that he was not part of the rebel group, raising doubts about the total number of rebels. “I have made it clear that I will not join any other party. I am in Mumbai today [Wednesday] “I will also attend the party meeting scheduled to be held on Thursday in New Delhi. I have not received any offer and no party or political leader has contacted me,” he added.
The statement came even as police protection was provided to Patel’s residence in Mumbai amid the uproar of the defection. His daughter and Sena (UBT) leader Rajul Patel said her father was in Mumbai and would attend the Shiv Sena (UBT) meeting. “I don’t know if he signed the letter to the speaker.”
On Tuesday, six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs, Eknath Shinde, and Sena (UBT) leaders Sanjay Raut, Arvind Sawant and Anil Desai, rushed to the national capital. Sanjay Patel and Umraji Nepalkar denied traveling to the capital.
Shinde camped in Delhi for 18 hours and consulted legal experts on aspects of the possible break-up of the Shiv Sena (UBT), before returning to Mumbai on Wednesday evening.
Sanjay Raut, who met Birla in the national capital along with Sawant and Desai, on Wednesday warned against any possible defections, saying those who wish to leave the party should resign and face the public again. “If such reports come out 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 and all of them were paraded $50 crores to leave the party. ” $Rs 15 crore was given as advance. “I have been told that MPs are not willing to sit in chartered planes until they get progress,” Raut said.
Another Sena minister in Maharashtra said the rebel MPs were negotiating what they would get in return, slowing down the defection process. “…Sanjay Jadhav has been assured that he will become a minister of state in the Union government, but another MP is demanding a ministerial berth,” he added.
Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankole said his party has nothing to do with the attempt to boycott the Shiv Sena (UBT).
This is the third such crisis in Maharashtra after splits in the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party in 2022 and 2023. The developments come a week after 20 lawmakers from the rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) proposed merging with the little-known Indian nationalist Citizens Party and backing the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, boosting the ruling coalition’s numbers in the Lok Sabha.
