A season of splits: How crisis hit Thackeray’s Shiv Sena
Six Lok Sabha MPs from Thackeray’s Shiv Sena are likely to merge with the Shinde faction, sending the NDA tally to 320.
Tectonic shifts are underway in Indian politics.
Even before the dust settled on the Trinamool Congress’ rupture, fresh turmoil hit Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. At least six of its Lok Sabha member of parliaments (MPs) have rebelled, reportedly seeking to merge with the Eknath Shinde faction.
The MPs – Sanjay Dina Patil, Sanjay Deshmukh, Nagesh Patil Ashtikar, Omraje Nimbalkar, Bhausaheb Wakchaure and Sanjay Jadhav – met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on June 17, justifying their exit over leadership discontent, party’s succession under Aaditya Thackeray, and an alleged ideological drift. They also claimed that the UBT faction was planning an “eventual merger with the Congress”.
Before their arrival in Delhi, aboard separate private jets, the rebels had reportedly gone “missing”, with their phones switched off.
The defection appears to mirror the TMC playbook. The MPs have reportedly submitted a letter to Birla, initiating the merger process. To bypass the anti-defection law, they are expected to form a separate faction before merging with Shinde’s Shiv Sena, born of a similar rebellion in 2022.
What is being seen as Shinde’s effort to poach MPs has been dubbed “Operation Tiger” by the opposition, a reference to the party’s symbol. Notably, the merger of six UBT MPs with Shinde, would take the NDA’s strength to 320 ahead of key bills expected in the monsoon session.
The Thackeray camp has issued a seven-day show-cause notice to the rebel MPs, while urging Birla to reject their exit plea and not allot them seats near the Shinde faction.
But before the news got out, senior leader Sanjay Raut initially denied the reports about the split. He called the reports “a lie,” however, added that some MPs were “being offered Rs 15 crore”. Then Uddhav Thackeray also urged party workers not to believe the rumours, claiming the MPs remain in touch with him.
The turmoil eventually became evident as the rebel MPs skipped Thackeray’s meetings, even as a three-line whip was issued directing all Lok Sabha MPs to attend a parliamentary meeting. Notably, Uddhav and Aaditya Thackeray also remained absent from the meet.
The “rumours”, meanwhile, are also rife about turmoil within the Samajwadi Party.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led party has a total of 37 MPs, including several first-time legislators. While Yadav has rejected claims of a split, at least two BJP ministers insist a crisis is in the making.
UP minister and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar recently said on X that a “major split” is imminent in the SP. He advised Yadav to “save his MPs” and “go to the homes of the upset and disappointed MPs to apologise to them.”
He added that “a son of Ballia” would lead the breakaway faction, purportedly referring to SP MP Sanatan Pandey. A day before Rajbhar’s statements, Pandey had presided over a Brahmin conference organised at the party headquarters in Lucknow headquarters. The BJP leader alleged that Brahmins were “insulted” during the event.
Rajbhar also alleged that senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav had written to Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the party MPs. “Only when someone is ready to be bought, people will buy them. Don’t keep your attention only on Maharashtra; it is UP’s number now.”
UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya also claimed that “25–26 SP MPs” would likely exit the party after the 2027 elections.
As regional parties – that have long added nuance to Indian politics – face crisis, the question is whether they will endure or be absorbed by the bigger players.