Once again the political temperature has become high in Maharashtra. There is going to be another split in Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena. Sources say that all the 6 rebel Lok Sabha MPs of Shiv Sena (UBT) are going to join Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena at 3 pm on Monday.
These 6 rebel MPs are expected to formally join Shinde’s Shiv Sena. This may also give the rebel group the required two-thirds majority to avoid being disqualified under the anti-defection law. There have been speculations about Operation Tiger in Maharashtra for a long time. For the last few days, there is a stir in the politics there.
Meeting called today in ‘Pagoda’
Amidst the political stir over ‘Operation Tiger’, Shiv Sena (UBT) has called a meeting of all its MLAs and MLCs today at 2.30 pm on Monday at the party office ‘Shivalaya’ at Nariman Point. This meeting is taking place on the first day of the commencement of the monsoon session of the Maharashtra Assembly. This is being seen as Uddhav’s attempt to keep his people united amid growing concerns about defection.
It is expected that in this meeting, Uddhav Thackeray will address all the party MLAs and explain the party’s strategy after the rebellion of a group of Lok Sabha MPs. The turmoil within the party intensified when two rebel MPs (Nagesh Patil Ashtikar and Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar) publicly announced their decision to join the Shinde faction on Sunday.
Plan to leave the party after criticism
Earlier on June 17, 6 MPs of the party had not attended the Shiv Sena (UBT) parliamentary party meeting in Delhi. These 6 rebel MPs are – Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Dina Patil, Bhausaheb Wakchore, Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar and Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar. Shiv Sena (UBT) has 9 MPs in the Lok Sabha, while the rebel group needs at least 6 MPs for a two-thirds majority.
Talking about leaving his party, Hingoli MP Nagesh Patil Ashtikar said that the comments made against him and other rebel MPs after June 18 changed his intention to remain in Uddhav Thackeray’s party.
Decision taken after June 18: Nagesh
In a video post on social media, Ashtikar said, “I and some other MPs (of Shiv Sena-UBT) had not taken any decision till June 18. And we had not gone anywhere. However, from Thursday, some such things were said against us, which made us feel that there is no point in continuing here (in Sena-UBT).” Ashtikar made it clear that he was not angry with party chief Uddhav or party leader Sanjay Raut. However, from his words it seemed that he was extremely angry with the comments being made about the rebel MPs for the last few days.
Making his first public appearance since the new political campaign launched in Maharashtra as ‘Operation Tiger’, MP Ashtikar announced that he has joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. He also clarified that he has not compromised on his ideology and he has “simply moved from one Shiv Sena to another.”
Similarly, Dharashiv’s Lok Sabha MP Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar also announced to join Shinde’s Shiv Sena after talking to supporters in his constituency. This decision of Nimbalkar came after tremendous efforts by the Uddhav Thackeray camp to retain him. Party MLAs Kailash Patil and Varun Sardesai were sent to their homes in Pune on Sunday morning itself. He also conveyed Uddhav’s message.
CM-DyCM accepted ‘Operation Tiger’
After the meeting, Kailash Patil said, “We have spoken to Omraje Nibalkar. We conveyed Uddhav Saheb’s message. We are confident that Omraje will remain with us.”
Amidst the political turmoil, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also remained in the news continuously. In a way, he accepted the success of “Operation Tiger”. CM Fadnavis said, “The operation has been successful, and the health of the party is very good. No one needs to worry. Those who need to introspect should do so.” Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde also confirmed the success of the operation. Shinde said, “Whenever I start an operation, I complete it. We have shown this earlier also.”
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