Mumbai:
Nearly four years after a rebellion engineered by Eknath Shinde split the Shiv Sena and unseated the then Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) appears to be staring at yet another exodus, as at least three MPs have had ‘courtesy’ engagements with leaders of other parties recently.
The speculation that the Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena is headed toward another split intensified after Sanjay Jadhav — a three-term Lok Sabha MP and the party’s prominent face in the Marathwada region — skipped a crucial meeting at Matoshree, Uddhav Thackeray’s house in Mumbai.
His absence raised concerns within the party’s circles, especially as sources claimed he had been unreachable since. He also missed a key meeting of the party’s office bearers at Sena Bhavan, convened by the leadership.
Senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve, however, sought to play down the concerns, claiming the politician had been attending a family engagement.
“I spoke to him yesterday; he is busy with a family function,” he told NDTV.
“The meeting was a part of the regular review of all the districts. All the other office bearers were present; the party is intact,” he added.
Jadhav’s case was not the only instance when actions by Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders triggered the rumour that all is not well in the Thackeray-led unit.
Over the past few months, there have been murmurs of discontent among several Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs, with sources indicating dissatisfaction over the party’s functioning and leadership outreach. Except for leaders like Arvind Sawant and Anil Desai, a section of MPs is believed to be exploring other political options.
Earlier this month, party MPs from Hingoli, Nagesh Patil Ashtikar, and Yavatmal-Washim, Sanjay Deshmukh, attended a dinner hosted by Union Minister Prataprao Jadhav in New Delhi. Shortly after, Sanjay Jadhav was also reported to have met BJP leader Amit Shah in the national capital, fueling speculation that some political negotiations are afoot.
While those involved maintained that these interactions were non-political, they were enough to revive chatter around a possible defection attempt, often referred to in political circles as “Operation Tiger,” a term loosely linked to efforts associated with Eknath Shinde’s camp.
Interestingly, leaders from the Eknath Shinde faction have struck a cautious note in recent weeks. The party has publicly dismissed reports of Shiv Sena(UBT) MPs being in touch with it, calling them baseless.
At the same time, there is unconfirmed buzz from Delhi that some of these MPs may have been approached directly by the BJP leadership, rather than through the Shinde faction. There has been no official confirmation regarding this.
Sources familiar with recent meetings among the MPs in Delhi point to a deeper issue — an alleged communication gap between the party’s leadership and its parliamentary wing.
Some MPs are said to have expressed concern over limited engagement from the top leadership, particularly during election campaigns in the hinterland, which they believe contributed to the party’s bad performance in recent local body polls.
Several MPs who had strongly denied any possibility of defection have now adopted a more guarded stance. They are either avoiding direct responses or remaining inaccessible, adding to the uncertainty around the party’s immediate political future.