top of page

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.

Of Statues and Security Breaches

Updated: Jan 29, 2025

The AAP-led government in Punjab appears to be walking a tightrope, with simmering controversies raising questions about its role in straining Centre-State relations.

Punjab
Punjab

The damage inflicted on a statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in Amritsar has unleashed a chain of events that underscores the fragility of Punjab’s political fabric. While the immediate outrage stemmed from an isolated act of vandalism by a youth, the political ripples extend far beyond. The incident has drawn Dalit organizations, opposition parties, and even the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) into its vortex, each interpreting the episode in ways that align with their own narratives. At the center of this turbulence is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), whose leadership now faces mounting scrutiny over whether it is fanning these flames in a bid to disturb Centre-State relations.


The episode began with the arrest of Akash Singh, a young man from the Scheduled Caste community, who brazenly damaged the statue and a replica of the Constitution on Amritsar’s Heritage Street. His actions sparked widespread protests from Dalit organizations, culminating in a citywide bandh. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s immediate condemnation and promise of strict action were swift, but the deeper political undertones were hard to ignore. The protests, which brought traffic to a standstill in key cities like Amritsar and Jalandhar, served as a potent reminder of the volatile social undercurrents in Punjab.


Adding fuel to the fire, former BJP Union Minister Vijay Sampla’s remarks linking the vandalism to the Golden Temple area drew sharp rebuttals from Sikh leaders, including the SGPC.


However, it is the broader question of Centre-State dynamics that looms large over this incident. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s recent outburst over the replacement of Punjab Police personnel in his security detail with Gujarat Police officers raises eyebrows. The deployment of Gujarat personnel, part of routine Election Commission protocols ahead of Delhi’s municipal polls, was publicly criticized by Kejriwal, who questioned the timing and intent behind the move. While Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi defended the deployment as standard procedure, Kejriwal’s selective targeting of Gujarat betrays a deeper strategy to fan regional insecurities.


This is not the first time Punjab has found itself at the heart of a Centre-State controversy. In 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s convoy was stranded on a highway for over 20 minutes during a visit to Punjab, prompting accusations of a security lapse by the then-Congress government. The BJP at the time had claimed the breach reflected “murderous intentions,” a charge that then Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had vehemently denied. Visuals of the Prime Minister’s armoured convoy surrounded by Special Protection Group personnel remain a stark reminder of the precariousness of security arrangements in the state.


Punjab’s political leadership, whether under Congress or AAP, has shown a proclivity for positioning itself as a bulwark against perceived central overreach. This posture, while electorally advantageous in a state with a strong federalist ethos, risks deepening divisions between Punjab and the Union government. AAP’s governance style, marked by frequent clashes with the Centre, appears to thrive on such confrontations. The Ambedkar statue controversy, while seemingly unrelated to these broader tensions, has been opportunistically weaponized by political actors to amplify their grievances.


The sight of protests disrupting daily life in Amritsar and Jalandhar, and the spectacle of political leaders trading barbs over procedural deployments, detracts from pressing governance challenges. Punjab continues to grapple with economic stagnation, drug abuse and a precarious fiscal situation, all of which demand cooperative federalism rather than conflict.


For the AAP, which governs both Punjab and Delhi, the challenge lies in balancing its populist instincts with the responsibilities of governance. Repeated confrontations with the Centre risks eroding its credibility as a party capable of delivering on its promises. The incidents in Punjab, from the statue vandalism to the controversy over security protocols, highlight the need for mature leadership that prioritizes stability over spectacle.

Comments

bottom of page