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Six Shiv Sena UBT MPs join Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena, Shinde calls it second phase of 2022 rebellion, touts Hindutva, welfare schemes and double engine sarkar
Maharashtra Deputy CM and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde. File image: PTI
Six Members of Parliament from Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) formally joined Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena on Monday, with Shinde declaring the inductions complete and calling the development the second phase of the 2022 rebellion that ended Thackeray’s government in Maharashtra.
Addressing a gathering with all six MPs standing alongside him, Shinde said: “Today, there are six tigers present here.” He quipped that three of the six MPs share the first name Sanjay, calling it “triple Sanjay power,” and took an indirect swipe at Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut, saying: “When we have Sanjay here, no need to talk about any other Sanjay.”
“We have hit a sixer now,” Shinde said, drawing on the cricket metaphor to describe the six-MP induction. He said the original 2022 decision to break from the Thackeray faction was taken to protect Bal Thackeray’s Hindutva ideology, and that Monday’s event continued that effort. “Wherever there is the ideology of Shiv Sena, that is where Shiv Sena is,” he said.
Shinde said he had personally spoken to all six MPs over the preceding two days and described them as “real stars” who had joined not for personal gain but to serve their constituencies. On MP Nimbalkar, Shinde said it was “sad” that a court case had not gone in his favour.
Defending the 2022 split, Shinde recalled predictions that none of the 40 MLAs who backed him would win re-election. “I had said if they don’t win, I will resign and go back to my village and become a farmer,” he said. He said 60 were subsequently re-elected.
How It Happened
The six MPs are Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav, Sanjay Dina Patil, Sanjay Uttamrao Deshmukh, Bhausaheb Rajaram Wakchaure, Nagesh Bapurao Patil Ashtikar, and Omprakash Bhupalsingh Nimbalkar. The Shiv Sena (UBT) had nine Lok Sabha MPs. The six needed to meet the two-thirds threshold for a valid merger.
Their absence from a parliamentary party meeting called by the Thackeray camp in Delhi on June 17 first signalled the impending switch. MPs Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai, and Rajabhau Waje attended that meeting, along with Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut.
On Sunday, Nagesh Patil Ashtikar and Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar publicly confirmed their decision to join the Shinde camp. The Shiv Sena (UBT) said it had begun disciplinary proceedings against the six rebel MPs.
The Shinde camp’s effort to bring the MPs across had been called “Operation Tiger,” a reference to the tiger symbol of the original undivided Shiv Sena founded by Bal Thackeray.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis acknowledged the success of the operation and blamed Uddhav Thackeray for the crisis. Thackeray, addressing party workers in Bhandup on Sunday, said he was not demoralised and would continue to lead what he described as the original Shiv Sena.
About the Author
Anoshito Banerjee is a digital journalist at CNN-News18, specialising in Indian foreign policy, global diplomacy, South and West Asian geopolitics, and strategic affairs. His reporting spans hard news…Read More
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