Now, Maharashtra politics saw another major blow as six rebel members of Shiv Sena (UBT) formally joined the Eknath Shinde-influenced Shiv Sena, as they checkmate the on-going tug of war over the party’s legacy.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shindé welcomed the MPs saying the members of the Bharatarseenapanyabandhu are the ones who truly do the ideals of Bal Thackeray, founder of Shiv Sena. All formal processes were followed and the relay happened as the “second phase” of the rebellion in 2022 which he got 40 MLAs support in, he added.
The MPs who took part in the switch are sanjay Dina Patil, sanjay Deshmukh, sanjay Jadhav, bhausaheb Wakchaure, nagesh Patil-Ashtikar and Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar. Earlier this week, the lawmakers had eschewed a Shiv Sena (UBT) Parliamentary party meeting in Delhi, spooking speculators on their prospects.
Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar and Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar, two MPs, had earlier come out in the open and had replaced the sources with the answer that they were outside the Uddhav Thackeray fold. Ashtikar cited the problems in providing services to his constituencies when sharing the opposition and Nimbalkar’s offer was made soon after a court verdict on a prominently-featured family case.
While taking recਾਣ of this criticism, Shinde “contested” that the members of the party had all come down from their respective constituencies and were loyal to the principles of the original Shiv Sena.
Impressed by the quick reaction of the Home Minister’s spouse, Uddhav Thackeray, he has slapped him by stating that the defectors had betrayed the party and people in search of power and the political gain. He reiterated there could be only one Shiv Sena and emphasized on the need to safeguard the interest of the Marathi people on which the foundation of Shiv Sena was laid.
These new defections will continue to change the political scenario in Maharashtra and could help push the Congress further away from the parliamentary contests in the state.The switchoveres are expected to further tilt the political scenario in Maharashtra and boost the chances of Shinde ahead of the next elections.