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By:

Quad Najmi and PTI

17 June 2026 at 5:11:32 pm

Uddhav faces another rebellion; decision today

Six Lok Sabha MPs trying to move away; picture may be clear at today’s Parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi AI generated image Mumbai: A cloak-and-dagger crisis engulfing the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has landed at the door of the Lok Sabha Speaker, with the party urging him to guard against any unlawful defection and issuing a whip directing its MPs to attend a meeting in Delhi on Thursday. Amid the escalating crisis, a group of rebel Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders is learnt to have met...

Uddhav faces another rebellion; decision today

Six Lok Sabha MPs trying to move away; picture may be clear at today’s Parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi AI generated image Mumbai: A cloak-and-dagger crisis engulfing the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has landed at the door of the Lok Sabha Speaker, with the party urging him to guard against any unlawful defection and issuing a whip directing its MPs to attend a meeting in Delhi on Thursday. Amid the escalating crisis, a group of rebel Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders is learnt to have met Speaker Om Birla informally on Wednesday, claiming the support of six of the party's nine MPs in the Lower House, sources said. Thursday's high-stakes meeting in Delhi will legally and physically define whether Uddhav Thackeray retains his parliamentary strength or faces another devastating party division, the third since Raj Thackeray split Shiv Sena in 2006. Sources in Sena (UBT) said the rival camp still doesn't have the support of six MPs. They claim two of the six rebels have reportedly changed their mind. In a swift counter-offensive to contain the damage, the party high command issued a mandatory three-line whip, summoning an emergency parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi on Thursday to force a physical showdown where the MPs will have to mark their presence physically. The developments triggered a day of high political drama in the national capital, marked by a furious, expletive-laden press conference by Raut, a reported counter-meeting by the rebel faction with Lok Sabha Speaker Birla, and sharp condemnation from the Congress. The internal fracture was visible at Sanjay Raut's press briefing, where only three other Lok Sabha MPs, Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai, and Rajabhau Waje, stood by him. The remaining six lawmakers were conspicuously absent; their exact whereabouts are unknown. The Sena (UBT) has nine MPs in the Lok Sabha, and at least two‑thirds of them would be required to form a separate group. Apart from Desai, Waje and Sawant, the other six MPs are Sanjay Patil, Sanjay Deshmukh, Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar, Bhausaheb Wakchaure, Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar and Sanjay Jadhav Not Reachable The six MPs stopped responding or became unavailable since Wednesday forenoon, after which the party stopped contacting them. They said when the party contacted Mumbai North East MP, Sanjay Dina Patil, he told party leaders that he was not with the rebel group. The party had asked them to submit a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, which he has not submitted so far. Later in the day, sources claimed that the group of six rebel lawmakers had privately met the Lok Sabha Speaker to claim a two-thirds majority in the Lower House, the precise threshold required to escape disqualification under the anti-defection law. Simultaneously, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who split the undivided Shiv Sena in 2022, was reportedly camping in Delhi to oversee the operational layout of the defection of MPs. He returned to his home town Thane in Wednesday night. He is reportedly studying all the legal aspects before taking a final call before the party’s foundation day on Friday. Speaker’s Role Following reports of the rebels' move, a loyalist delegation consisting of Raut, Sawant, and Desai rushed to meet Speaker Birla to file a formal representation urging him to reject any unlawful group alignment. Desai argued that the legal provisions are strictly on the side of the original organisational structure. "Under the law, a splinter group cannot simply merge with another party on its own, even if they have two-thirds support. Only the original administrative party holds that right," Desai told reporters, adding that the Speaker assured them he would thoroughly examine every legal aspect before rendering a decision. The widening panic inside the party also triggered a public, familial disconnect involving missing Hingoli MP Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar. While the MP remained unreachable, his son, Krushna Patil Ashtikar, the MVA's official candidate for Thursday's Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, released a video statement strongly defending Uddhav Thackeray. "I am a Shiv Sainik of Uddhav Thackeray. There is no room for doubt when it comes to me," the younger Ashtikar stated.

An Industrial Mirage

Updated: Feb 7, 2025

Despite grand summits and tall proclamations by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, industry continues to elude West Bengal.

West Bengal
West Bengal

Every year, the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) unfurls in Kolkata with all the pomp and circumstance of a royal durbar. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, flanked by industrial titans and foreign dignitaries, unfailingly touts West Bengal as India’s next big industrial hub. This year’s iteration was no different. Announcements reverberated across the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre - coal extraction from the mammoth Deucha Pachami block, investments in AI centers and commitments to vast infrastructural projects. Reliance Industries’ Mukesh Ambani, in a display of rhetorical flourish, declared Bengal to be in the throes of an economic renaissance, bolstered by his commitment to double the conglomerate’s investment to a staggering Rs. 1 lakh crore by 2030.


Yet, as the glittering rhetoric fades, the realities of West Bengal’s industrial landscape remain stubbornly unchanged.


Under Ms. Banerjee’s stewardship, has hosted eight editions of the BGBS, promising a transformation of the state’s economic fortunes. But a closer look at the state’s economic record reveals a starker picture.


The Deucha Pachami coal block, located in Birbhum district, is projected to generate over one lakh jobs and sustain the region’s energy needs for a century. However, such grand proclamations are reminiscent of West Bengal’s historical inability to translate industrial promises into concrete outcomes. The legacy of Singur looms large - a symbol of the state’s fraught relationship with industrialization. Tata Motors’ ignominious exit in 2008, following prolonged protests, exemplified the hostile environment that continues to deter large-scale investments.


The scars of Singur are emblematic of Bengal’s broader industrial malaise - a state caught between lofty aspirations and a profound anti-industry culture, nurtured by decades of Leftist governance.


The state’s track record remains blemished by its notorious anti-industry culture. Despite Banerjee’s claims of a “strike-free environment” and improved ease of doing business, West Bengal has struggled to shed its image as a graveyard for industry. Industrialists may attend summits and extol the virtues of the state’s leadership, but real investments are scarce, and transformative projects remain elusive.


Take the much-touted Deucha Pachami project itself. Though land has purportedly been acquired and the government has expressed gratitude to local and tribal communities, concerns about displacement and ecological impact persist. The promises of ancillary industries and job creation echo similar commitments made in the past, which failed to materialize meaningfully.


Even the presence of global business leaders like Mukesh Ambani and Sajjan Jindal at the BGBS must be viewed with caution. Their investments, though significant on paper, have not led to a broader industrial renaissance in Bengal. Reliance’s investment, while expansive in retail and telecommunications, does not represent a manufacturing or heavy industry boom that the state so desperately needs.


In the realm of economic metrics, the state’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) growth is touted as a success, but it falls short of fostering sustainable industrial growth. Infrastructure projects, such as the proposed upgrade of Durgapur Airport into a second air hub, are necessary yet insufficient to draw in manufacturing giants.


The broader economic landscape in West Bengal remains constrained by structural issues. A persistent lack of skilled labour, coupled with bureaucratic red tape and unpredictable regulatory changes, continues to stifle industrial ambitions. Mamata Banerjee’s attempts to recast West Bengal as an industrial powerhouse, therefore, ring hollow. While the Bengal Global Business Summit provides a stage for grandiose announcements, the state remains trapped in its anti-industry legacy. Without substantive reforms and a shift in the socio-political fabric that has long resisted industrialization, West Bengal’s industrial revival will remain a mirage - visible from afar but unattainable upon approach. No amount of summitry or strategic announcements can substitute for genuine structural reform. If West Bengal is to break free from its industrial stagnation, it requires more than high-profile endorsements and lofty promises. It demands a fundamental rethinking of what it means to be an industry-friendly state.

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