Six of the nine Shiv Sena (UBT) members of parliament skipped a mandatory party meeting to align with rival leader Eknath Shinde.
This move signals a significant collapse of legislative discipline within Uddhav Thackeray's faction. By seeking separate recognition, these lawmakers threaten the party's standing in the Lok Sabha and potentially shift the balance of power in Maharashtra's political landscape.
The crisis intensified after party leadership issued a three-line whip and called an emergency meeting to force a showdown. Only three of the nine MPs [1] attended the mandated gathering, while six [1] were absent.
Following their absence from the party meeting, the six rebel MPs met with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla [2]. During this meeting, they submitted a formal letter requesting separate parliamentary recognition [2]. The lawmakers said they support the leadership of Eknath Shinde [3].
Six MPs have now explicitly accepted the leadership of Shinde [3], leaving Thackeray with a diminished presence in the lower house. The shift comes amid reports of a strategic effort to destabilize the UBT faction, a move some have referred to as "Operation Tiger" [4].
The submission of the letter to the Speaker is a critical procedural step. It allows the rebel group to attempt to bypass the party whip and avoid disqualification while seeking a new official identity within the parliament [2].
“Only three of the nine MPs attended the mandated gathering”
The defection of two-thirds of the Shiv Sena (UBT) parliamentary delegation represents a severe blow to Uddhav Thackeray's legitimacy as a national political leader. By moving toward Eknath Shinde and seeking formal recognition from the Speaker, the rebel MPs are attempting to institutionalize the split. This shift reduces the UBT's bargaining power in New Delhi and strengthens the Shinde-led faction's claim to be the authentic representative of the Shiv Sena legacy.
