Aaditya Thackeray, chief of the Shiv Sena UBT, warned six rebel members of parliament to resign and contest elections [1].
This internal crisis threatens the stability of the party's leadership in Maharashtra. The potential loss of these lawmakers could shift the political balance toward the rival faction led by Eknath Shinde.
A press conference was scheduled for 3 p.m. [2] to announce the lawmakers joining Shinde’s faction. In response, Shiv Sena UBT workers staged protests in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area to oppose the rebels [3].
Uddhav Thackeray, leader of the Shiv Sena UBT, said the rebellion had not demoralized him. He said that there could only be one Sena despite the ongoing defections [4].
Reasons for the split appear varied among the defectors. Some reports indicate the shift is a direct move toward the Shinde faction [4]. Other accounts suggest the lawmakers feared the party was heading toward a merger with the Congress party [3].
Naresh Mhaske, a Shiv Sena MP, said "the rebel Sena (UBT) MPs split because they feared the party was heading towards a merger with Congress" [3].
Aaditya Thackeray challenged the six [4] rebels to prove their mandate by resigning their seats and seeking fresh elections. This move seeks to frame the defections as a betrayal of the voters, rather than a strategic political shift.
“the rebel Sena (UBT) MPs split because they feared the party was heading towards a merger with Congress”
The friction within the Shiv Sena UBT highlights a deeper struggle for the party's ideological identity. By urging rebels to contest elections, the Thackeray leadership is attempting to delegitimize the defection as an opportunistic move, while the rebels' concerns about a Congress merger suggest a fear of losing the party's distinct regional appeal.
