Shinde ‘feasts’ on Thackeray’s party

AI generated image Mumbai: The Shiv Sena (UBT)’s worst fears proved true on Thursday when six suspected ‘turncoat’ MPs failed to attend its crucial parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi – signaling another ‘split’ in four years – and posing a serious challenge to ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership and credibility. The crucial parliamentary party meeting saw only three (out of total 9) Lok Sabha MPs – Arvind Sawant (Mumbai South), Anil Desai (Mumbai South-Central) and Rajabhau Waje (Nashik) – in attendance as per a whip issued two days ago, when the so-called ‘Operation Tiger’ was in advanced stages. At the tense meeting, with their eyes trained on the doors, they waited for over an hour for their six LS colleagues - Sanjay Dina Patil (Mumbai North East), Nagesh Patil Ashtikar (Hingoli), Sanjay Jadhav (Parbhani), Omprakash Nimbalkar (Dharashiv), Sanjay Deshmukh (Yavatmal-Washim) and Bhausaheb Wakchaure (Shirdi) – who never turned up. Emerging from the meeting the ruffled trio of Raut, Sawant and Desai confronted the huge crowd of media-persons and announced what was already public knowledge – that the SS (UBT) was breaking again. A tense Sawant somehow managed to smile and said that since the 6 MPs have defied the party whip, they would face the appropriate consequences. “We have followed the procedures and sent them individual show-cause notices, seeking their replies within a week,” he said. Raut said that if they fail to reply to the show-cause notices, then the party will initiate the necessary proceedings – in the Parliament, the courts and the streets. Operation Tudva In a raging mood, Raut warned that the SS (UBT) workers will ‘teach’ all the six MPs a lesson and now the party had launched a counter ‘Operation Tudva’ – akin to a similar initiative implemented successfully by the (undivided) NCP in 2019. “They are unscrupulous, unprincipled traitors. We have been told that they have taken huge sums of money to break away from our party. They took Rs 15-cr. to board the chartered aircraft two days ago, and yesterday again took Rs 10-cr to go to an undisclosed destination in Rajasthan,” claimed Raut, his outburst splattered with expletives for the second day. He reiterated his demand that “if all the six MPs first resign from their seats and contest elections afresh, we shall not label them as traitors”, even as Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar alleged that each MP reportedly stood to make Rs 85-cr, plus more through other means. Threatening MPs Angry Shiv Sainiks burnt effigies of all the MPs in their respective constituencies and threatened of physical attacks or their properties, prompting the state government to accord them Y-Plus category security as per a wireless directives issued by the State Commissioner of Intelligence Shirish Jain today. Indicating deep fissures, the absence of the six MPs pointed to the likelihood of them officially preparing to align with the Shiv Sena led by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde marking success of the ‘Operation Tiger’. Yesterday, the rebels had called on Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and submitted a letter seeking to be recognized as a separate parliamentary group. The SS (UBT) also met the Speaker yesterday to submit a counter-letter and urged him to refrain from according any recognition to the breakaway group, and stick to the laws and Constitutional norms. However, if the Speaker accepts the rebels’ plea, it could formalize the impending ‘split’ and prove a huge setback for the SS (UBT). Eknath Shinde gets the “lion’s share” of SS (UBT) Prowling stealthily and effectively Shiv Sena President and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde ostensibly masterminded the ‘Operation Tiger’ and took away the lion’s share of 6 (out of 9) MPs from his bete-noire, ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) – for the second time in 4 years with lot of symbolism attached to the political man-hunt. Though party sources remained tight-lipped, it is learnt that Shinde’s ace team of political and legal advisors have gone through all the nitty-gritties, all the possibilities, the fallout in Parliament, the courts and the streets, before giving the green signal to strike at Thackeray’s party. On the next course, a party leader said that “only Shinde-ji has the authority” to decide and speak on this”, and he may well have some new aces up his trademark white-shirt sleeves in the coming days.