Another Split in Sena in the Offing: Six Thackeray MPs to Shift to Shinde Faction
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 18: Facing the prospect of yet another split in the party, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) faction has served a seven-day notice to six of its Members of the Lok Sabha who skipped a meeting convened by the party on Thursday and instead are learnt to have dashed off a letter to the speaker Om Birla demanding recognition as a separate faction and ultimately join the faction led by the Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde.
Thackeray camp has also written a letter to the speaker requesting him to reject the demands of the six MPs and informed him that they would face internal disciplinary action for the alleged anti-party activities.
The six MPs met Mr Birla on Wednesday and have reportedly told the speaker that the reason for their feeling disenchanted with the party was the deviation it had made from its ideology. Specifically, the six claimed senior Thackeray Sena leaders had plans to eventually merge with the Congress, part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi bloc and the ex-chief minister’s ally. This ‘merger’, they said, was the reason for their jumping ship. They also requested Birla to allocate House seats near the seven occupied by MPs from the Eknath Shinde faction.
This has been a deja vu time for Thackeray, an unhappy reminder of Shinde’s rebellion, the fall of his MVA government, and his forced resignation as the chief minister of Maharashtra. Sources said the rebels had been unhappy with Thackeray’s leadership, pointing to the party boss apparently ignoring calls to visit their constituencies and a lack of poll-time support. They also complained that even Aaditya Thackeray, his son, seemed off limits to them.
Over the past 48 hours, though this drama has been playing out behind closed doors for months, the Thackeray camp has hit back. Anil Desai, who is UBT’s chief whip, has said the party was considering action against the MPs who skipped the meeting and a show cause notice will be sent to them. “They will have to explain why didn’t they attend the meeting despite the whip. Additionally, they didn’t provide any details why they failed to attend the meeting,” Desai told reporters.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, considered a close aide of Thackeray, has described the MPs as ‘traitors’. “If the other 6 MPs met the Speaker, show us a photo of the same… This is not called strategy, this is betrayal. They are still the members of our party and won on our symbol. If they have violated the party whip, they will have to face legal action,” he said.
Shiv Sena MLC Chandrakant Raghuvanshi has said the six MPs have already joined the Shinde Sena, although there has been no official confirmation on this yet. “Operation Tiger has taken place in Maharashtra. Today, six MPs expressed their confidence in Eknath Shinde and have joined Shiv Sena… It is good that they joined us. I welcome them,” he said.
The Uddhav Sena has nine Lok Sabha members. Of them, only three attended Thursday’s parliamentary meeting: Anil Desai, Arvind Sawant and Rajabhau Parag Prakash Waje. The rest six MPs — Sanjay Jadhav, Bhausaheb Wakchaure, Omraje Nimbalkar, Sanjay Dina Patil, Sanjay Deshmukh and Nagesh Patil Ashtikar — didn’t turn for the meeting, according to sources.
The six who were ‘missing’ this week – their phones were switched off – and their identities in doubt, are now in the open. And based on similar episodes in the past, in Maharashtra and elsewhere, the Congress’ Madhya Pradesh travails, for example, it is likely their ‘defection’ will be approved, the Shinde Sena’s hand will be strengthened, and the BJP will gain six more votes to push through the contentious women’s reservation and delimitation bills.
After meeting Birla, Nagesh Ashtikar flew to the temple town of Tirupati for a pilgrimage. Bhausaheb Wagchaure went to Varanasi, Sanjay Dina Patil to Mumbai, and Omraje Nimbalkar to Pune. Sanjay Deshmukh and Sanjay Jadhav went to another temple town – Ayodhya.
Their departure was quick but they reached Delhi in a staggered manner. Ashtikar arrived from Nanded via private jet at 1.30 am June 16. Nimbalkar arrived from Pune at 4.30 am. He was accompanied by Shrikant Shinde, Eknath Shinde’s son. Hours later Deshmukh and Jadhav landed in private jets of their own. Wagchaure came from Hyderabad, on yet another private jet. Patil arrived that night. All six were given rooms at a Noida hotel.
Eknath Shinde, meanwhile, came via Jaipur and the eight, i.e., the six rebels and the two Shindes, reportedly met at Shrikant Shinde’s home, after which the latter and Nimbalkar met Birla at 7 am, while the other five Sena rebels had their meeting three hours later. The six will meet Shinde again on Saturday, after which they are expected to release details from their meeting with Birla. They will also share the letter sent to the Speaker and explain their decision.
If the six MPs join the Shinde Sena, it will be a huge boost for Eknath Shinde’s faction. The party has five MPs in the Lower House and its strength would rise to 11 if the six legislators switch sides.
The Shinde Sena has also taken a dig at the Uddhav Sena and said the party needs an introspection on why its leaders are leaving the party. “Every party worker is happy with Eknath Shinde ji and he is extremely popular. However, they will never be able to understanding,” said Shaina NC.
