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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.

Counting Castes, Courting Trouble

Telangana’s caste survey could prove a political landmine for Rahul Gandhi and the Congress.

Telangana
Telangana

Caste, the defining feature of Indian politics, has always been at the center of any political debate. The Telangana government’s recently released caste survey, completed in record time, has provided a numerical basis for long-standing demands for greater representation, potentially upending political calculations in the state. With Backward Classes (BCs) forming the majority of the state’s population, their leaders are demanding higher political quotas, putting pressure on Revanth Reddy’s Congress-led government.


Unlike its neighbour Karnataka, where Siddaramaiah’s Congress-led government has been sitting pretty on a similar exercise, Reddy appears intent on stirring the caste cauldron in Telangana. However, what was meant to be a tool to consolidate support among BCs could soon become a political liability for the state government as well as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s nationwide pitch for a caste census.


The preliminary findings of Telangana’s Socio-Economic, Educational, Employment, Political, and Caste (SEEEPC) Survey hold few surprises. The survey, covering around 9 percent of all households, found that 56.33 percent of Telangana’s population belongs to the Backward Classes (BCs), including 10.08 percent Muslim BCs. Scheduled Castes (SCs) make up 17.43 percent, Scheduled Tribes (STs) 10.45 percent, while the so-called ‘Other Castes’ (OCs) account for just 15.79 percent. These figures largely align with historical estimates but now serve as a rallying cry for BC leaders, who are demanding that their numerical strength translate into increased political and economic representation.


With local body elections due soon, the survey’s findings are bound to shape party strategies. BCs, already seen as a crucial voting bloc, played a pivotal role in the Congress’s victory over the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in 2023. Now, BC leaders want tangible political gains. The Congress government, which has only two BC ministers in its Cabinet, now faces intense pressure to act.


The BJP, which is keen to expand its footprint in Telangana after securing eight seats in 2023, is actively courting BCs, sensing an opportunity in Congress’s predicament. The BRS, still reeling from its electoral defeat, is also demanding the immediate implementation of the survey’s findings. If Congress fails to meet BC demands, it risks alienating a key constituency ahead of both local and future assembly elections.


Rahul Gandhi has been the loudest advocate for a nationwide caste census, making it a cornerstone of Congress’s political strategy. Yet, the Telangana survey now forces Congress to walk the talk, raising uncomfortable questions about whether the party is willing to implement the very policies it champions at the national level.


The Karnataka caste survey, completed in 2018, has been a political hot potato for Congress. Despite commissioning the survey, the Karnataka government now led by the Congress has kept its findings under wraps for seven years.


By contrast, Bihar’s caste census was completed relatively swiftly. The Nitish Kumar-led government took just six months and spent Rs. 500 crore to publish its findings, which revealed that BCs and EBCs make up a staggering 63% of Bihar’s population. The move allowed Kumar to claim the mantle of championing backward caste politics while Congress, despite being a coalition partner, played a secondary role. The Telangana survey’s timing is particularly inconvenient for Rahul Gandhi, who has championed a national caste census but now faces internal resistance within his party. The Telangana government has already committed to increasing BC reservations in local body polls, yet BC leaders remain unsatisfied, fearing a repeat of Karnataka’s dithering.


If Congress appears hesitant in Telangana, it risks losing credibility on its national caste census campaign. If it acts decisively, it could alienate upper-caste leaders within the party, triggering internal rifts similar to those in Karnataka. The BJP, which has historically been reluctant to embrace caste-based politics, could exploit Congress’s divisions to consolidate its position among non-BC voters.

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