Uddhav Thackeray, chief of Shiv Sena (UBT), called a meeting of all party MLAs and MLCs on June 22, 2024 [1].
The gathering comes as the party faces speculation regarding a potential split. Maintaining legislative unity is critical for the faction to sustain its political leverage in Maharashtra, especially as rumors circulate about a coordinated effort by rivals to peel away members.
The meeting took place at 4 p.m. [2] at 'Shivalaya' near Mantralaya in Mumbai [3]. The summons followed reports of a possible two-thirds split among the party's members of parliament [4] and references by a rival faction to a strategy termed ‘Operation Tiger’ [4].
Attendance records indicate that 17 of the 20 total Shiv Sena (UBT) MLAs were present [5, 6]. Three MLAs did not attend the session [7]. Among the members of the legislative council, five of the six total MLCs were in attendance [8, 9], leaving one MLC absent [10].
While some reports suggested that several legislators had gone missing [4], other accounts characterized the absences as legislators who had not yet arrived [10]. The meeting was designed to address these instabilities and ensure the party remains intact despite the pressure from opposing political factions [4].
Thackeray's effort to consolidate his legislators highlights the volatility of the state's political landscape. The presence of the vast majority of his state legislators suggests a current level of stability, though the absence of four total legislators remains a point of concern for the party leadership [6, 7, 10].
“Uddhav Thackeray called a crucial meeting of all Shiv Sena (UBT) MLAs and MLCs.”
This meeting is a defensive maneuver to prevent a legislative collapse. In Maharashtra's parliamentary system, a significant split in a party's legislative numbers can lead to a loss of official recognition or the collapse of a political bloc. By physically gathering his legislators, Thackeray is attempting to signal strength and deter further defections to rival factions.
