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Four reasons behind Eknath Shinde’s Operation Tiger explained
Eknath Shinde with his son Skrikant at a roadshow. (PTI File)
Amid the ‘Operation Tiger’ buzz, the key question is: Why did Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde need six rebel Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) faction, even after the 2022 split?
The answer lies in his efforts to legally consolidate his authority, enhance his leverage within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), and systematically weaken the rival camp’s political legitimacy.
FOUR REASONS WHY EKNATH SHINDE PLANNED ‘OPERATION TIGER’
The critical reasons behind this calculated political move, known as ‘Operation Tiger’, are:
1. Reaching the Legal Two-Thirds Threshold: Under the Indian Constitution’s Tenth Schedule, defecting lawmakers face immediate disqualification unless at least two-thirds of the legislative group breaks away. Because the Shiv Sena (UBT) holds nine Lok Sabha seats, the rebel faction required exactly six MPs to meet this mandatory legal threshold and avoid disqualification while forming a separate group or effecting a merger.
2. Enhancing Political Leverage in Delhi: Following the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where the BJP lost its absolute single-party majority, regional allies have secured massive political currency in central governance. Expanding his party’s parliamentary footprint provides Shinde a strong political bargaining chip when dealing with senior BJP leaders in New Delhi. This shields his position inside Maharashtra, especially given the underlying friction and power-sharing tensions with state-level BJP leaders, say experts.
3. Claiming the “True” Shiv Sena Legacy: Shinde has consistently argued that Uddhav Thackeray abandoned Bal Thackeray’s core Hindutva principles by aligning with the Congress and NCP. Orchestrating this parliamentary defection allows Shinde to demonstrate that the vast majority of the party’s elected public representatives — both at the state assembly and national parliamentary levels — reject Uddhav’s leadership, thereby vindicating Shinde’s status as the rightful heir to the original party legacy.
4. Cutting Off the Thackeray Camp’s Lifeline: Prior to this rebellion, the Uddhav Thackeray camp’s MPs served as their strongest visible symbols of political survival after losing the official party name, bow-and-arrow symbol, and state assembly majority. Engineering a collapse in the parliamentary wing would demoralise the UBT cadre and significantly cut off administrative influence and resource pathways for the rival faction ahead of the upcoming electoral battles, say experts.
BEHIND THE CHURN
The six rebel MPs—including prominent figures such as Nagesh Patil Ashtikar and Omraje Nimbalkar—pointed to developmental fund crunches in their home constituencies while remaining under the opposition banner as a core driver for defecting to the ruling side.
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