The Congress is the key reason behind the second rebellion in the Shiv Sena (UBT) since 2022, the six rebel MPs reportedly told Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday.
Citing a change in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena's ideology after the June 2022 revolt, the six MPs claimed that a part of this deviation was the party's plans to eventually merge with the Congress.
The national party had been an important part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government that had ruled the state till Thackeray resigned in June that year.
Apart from this "merger", the MPs also alleged that the party supremo had—for a while—been ignoring calls to visit their constituencies and had offered little to no poll-time support, as per an NDTV report, citing sources.
The six MPs—Omraje Nimbalkar, Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Dina Patil, Nagesh Patil Ashtikar, and Bhausaheb Wakchoure—whose identities are now known, are being carefully managed amid backlash over the move.
After meeting the Speaker, the report claims that the six MPs spread out across various parts of the country.
Nagesh Ashtikar flew to Tirupati for a pilgrimage. Bhausaheb Wagchaure, Sanjay Deshmukh, and Sanjay Jadhav went to separate places in Uttar Pradesh, while Sanjay Dina Patil and Omraje Nimbalkar were relocated across Maharashtra.
Eknath Shinde is scheduled to meet with the six MPs on Saturday, ahead of their press conference explaining their decision, in which they will also share the letter they sent to the Speaker.
Where are the six MPs now?
According to the latest updates for the Thackeray Sena split—dubbed Operation Tiger—the six MPs will also be shifted from Delhi to Jaipur as a precautionary measure while they wait to join the Shinde Sena, a Lokmat report said, citing sources.
They will also receive upgraded Y-plus security in the wake of recent potential threats to the MPs, including a series of protests by Thackeray Sena workers across places like Yavatmal, Parbhani, Beed, and Hingoli.
Their absence at the June 18 meeting of the party, despite Thackeray issuing the party whip, also means that they face show cause notices, as the party tries to hold onto them to prevent its MPs from dwindling down to three in the Lok Sabha.
The party has also pressured Birla not to allow the six MPs to cross over to the Shinde Sena.
