As the buzz around a likely replay of the 2022 split in the Uddhav Sena grows stronger, party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut has made a sensational charge over “poaching” of party MPs.
Raut on Tuesday alleged that Rs 15 crore was being paid individually to “buy MPs”. “To buy Maharashtra’s MPs… tonight, an advance of 15 crores each is being given, this information is shocking and disgusting !” Raut posted on X on Tuesday.
He, however, ruled out any immediate threat to the party and expressed confidence in its ability to manage the situation. Raut denied that his presence in Delhi was linked to a possible move by some MPs to form a separate group.
According to sources, six MPs from Shiv Sena UBT are in contact with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. The MPs are Sanjay Dina Patil, Sanjay Deshmukh, Nagesh Patil Ashtikar, Omraje Nimbalkar, Bhausaheb Wakchaure and Sanjay Jadhav. Additionally, Rajabhau Waje is also rumoured to join the six MPs.
The ‘rebel’ UBT Sena MPs are likely to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla today and may submit their letter to form a separate group. The MPs are later likely to merge with the Shinde Sena.
In a parallel pre-emptive move, Uddhav loyalist MP Arvind Sawant has also sought time from the Lok Sabha Speaker to submit a letter on behalf of Uddhav Thackeray. Uddhav loyalists Sanjay Raut, Arvind Sawant and Anil Desai are camping in Delhi amid the crisis.
According to sources, the rebel MPs of Uddhav Sena met Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde in the Capital at Shrikant Shinde’s Delhi residence. Shrikant Shinde is Eknath Shinde’s son and party MP. There is a possibility of another Shinde and rebel MPs meet today.
Ruling Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik indicated that dissidents would be welcomed and given priority if they decided to join the Eknath Shinde-led faction.
“If public representatives like MPs and MLAs do not trust their leadership… If they believe in the ideals of Sena founder Bal Thackeray and are willing to trust the leadership of Eknath Shinde, then the doors of the Shiv Sena are open to them,” Sarnaik said. “We will give them priority if they thought of it (anytime) in the future.”
Uddhav Thackeray is staring at a 2022 like split again. Then Eknath Shinde had split the party and formed a separate faction. This faction then also won the Shiv Sena name and symbol.
What intensified the buzz was the absence of five of the nine MPs from a recent meeting called by Uddhav Thackeray at his Matoshree residence. While Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai, Sanjay Dina Patil and Rajabhau Waje attended the meeting, Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Deshmukh, Omraje Nimbalkar, Bhausaheb Wakchaure and Nagesh Patil Ashtikar were absent. The party later claimed that the five MPs joined online.
Interestingly, the same five MPs also did not show up to wish Aditya Thackeray on his birthday just a day earlier.
On Monday night, Sanjay Raut himself fueled rebellion fears with a social media post on X, writing: “Meet Shiv Kundu, founding president of the Nationalist Citizen Party in Tripura. Believe it or not, 22 Trinamool Congress MPs officially ‘merged’ into his party! It seems Maharashtra’s defectors will also have to find a ‘Kundu’ to save themselves!” On Tuesday, Raut made the charge that Rs 15 crore are being offered to the Mps to switch
