Political activities surrounding ‘Operation Tiger’ has intensified in Maharashtra. According to sources, seven Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Uddhav Thackeray faction may soon join Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena. It is reported that on June 19—the occasion of Shiv Sena’s foundation day—these MPs will first form a separate faction and subsequently merge with the Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Leaders from Shinde faction claimed to be in contact with seven MPs
Such speculation has been rife over the past few days, and leaders from the Shinde faction have also claimed to be in contact with the seven MPs.
Amid intense speculation that some Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs might switch sides, party chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday held a meeting of his faction's Lok Sabha MPs, which all nine lawmakers attended either virtually or in person.
Uddhav holds meeting of his faction's Lok Sabha MPs
After the meeting, party's lone Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut said all MPs were loyalists and firmly stood by the party. Four MPs attended the meeting in person, while four others marked their presence virtually and one Lok Sabha member spoke to Thackeray over phone, he said.
The meeting was held at Thackeray's 'Matoshree' residence in Bandra East area here in the afternoon. The meeting assumed significance amid the buzz that some MPs might cross over to the ruling Shiv Sena, led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as part of the latter's 'Operation Tiger'.
In a social media post, Raut said four MPs, including three from Mumbai - Anil Desai, Arvind Sawant and Sanjay Patil - along with Nashik MP Rajabhau Waje, were present for the meeting in person.
Four other MPs - Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar (Dharashiv), Bhausaheb Wakchaure (Shirdi), Nagesh Bapurao Patil Ashtikar (Hingoli) and Sanjay Deshmukh (Yavatmal-Washim) - attended the meeting virtually, he said, adding that MP Sanjay Jadhav (Parbhani) spoke to Thackeray over phone. Raut said party MLA Aaditya Thackeray was also present for the meeting.
Uddhav says all his MPs are firmly standing united
"All MPs are firmly standing united and are loyally behind the Shiv Sena (UBT). Now at least, we hope the rumour mill will stop!" he said. An MP, who was part of the meeting, said Nimbalkar attended the meeting online as his son has been admitted to a hospital, while Wakchaure is in Hyderabad attending to his wife who is admitted there.
Jadhav, who had skipped party meetings in the past, was also preoccupied, he said. Deshmukh cited a similar reason and attended the meeting virtually, as did Ashtikar Patil, who is busy campaigning for his son contesting the legislative council polls, he added.
The MP said party chief Thackeray asked the lawmakers to keep an eye on the disbursal of farm loan waiver money announced by the Maharashtra government and also coordinate with party MLAs wherever possible. Meanwhile, talking to reporters in Nanded later, Ashtikar said he could not attend the meeting in person but took part in it virtually. He also posted a video of the virtual meeting on social media.
"I could not go to Mumbai for the meeting as my son is contesting the upcoming legislative council elections from Nanded seat as a Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate. Since only a few days are remaining, Uddhav Thackeray asked me to concentrate on the polls," he said.
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'Operation Tiger' rattles Uddhav's Sena; MLA meet convened over fears of mass switch to Shinde camp
