Speculation over a second phase of "Operation Tiger" has resurfaced in Maharashtra politics with the Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena claiming that several MLAs from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) are in contact with the party. The Uddhav camp, however, has dismissed the claims as baseless.
This comes days after 6 MPs rebelled against the Uddhav camp to join the Shinde faction in a major jolt to Thackeray.
According to sources, three to four MLAs from the Shiv Sena (UBT) met Eknath Shinde a few days ago and reportedly conveyed that a group of 12 to 14 legislators was willing to join his faction. There has been no official confirmation of the alleged meeting from either side.
The development comes just days after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) held a meeting of its legislators. Of the alliance's 60 MLAs, only 37 attended the meeting. The MVA later clarified that several legislators were absent due to personal commitments and pre-scheduled engagements.
The absence of several MLAs has further fuelled speculation surrounding "Operation Tiger", a term being used for the alleged move to engineer defections from the Uddhav Thackeray camp. The discussion gained momentum after a few Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs recently switched allegiance to the Shinde-led faction.
The Shinde camp now claims that 14 to 16 of Shiv Sena (UBT)'s 20 MLAs are in touch with the party. However, Shinde and his leaders insist they are not attempting to poach legislators, maintaining that the MLAs are approaching them voluntarily. They have also hinted that more legislators could join the faction in the coming days.
Reacting to the claims, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said all party MLAs remain in touch with Uddhav Thackeray and dismissed reports of a split. He said the legislators who skipped the MVA meeting had informed the leadership in advance about their absence due to personal reasons.
Taking a swipe at the Shinde camp, Raut remarked that they would soon claim they were trying to split even Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He added that if there was any real threat from "Operation Tiger", it was to Fadnavis, who, according to him, had the most reason to remain cautious.
