6 Rebel Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs Join Shinde Camp, Aaditya Thackeray Calls Them ‘Darrpok Aur Bikau’
Mumbai: Six rebel MPs from Shiv Sena (UBT) formally joined the Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday. The MPs who switched sides are Omraje Nimbalkar, Nagesh Patil Ashtikar, Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Dina Patil, and Bhausaheb Wakchaure. They joined in the presence of Eknath Shinde, MP Shrikant Shinde, Minister Pratap Sarnaik, and other senior party leaders.
Six MPs Join Shinde Camp
Maharashtra Minister and Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik told media that the six MPs would officially join Shiv Sena, adding, “This will increase the number of our MPs from 7 to 13. This has increased the strength of Shiv Sena.” According to reports, the six MPs have already submitted a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla confirming the switch.
Referring to what he called “Operation Tiger,” Sarnaik said, “Operation Tiger continues 365 days a year. The six MPs who follow the ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray are joining Shiv Sena at 3 pm today. They have submitted a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker. We welcome them. We thank Sanjay Raut because, due to him, first the MLAs joined our party, and now six MPs are joining our party.”
Sena (UBT) Reacts
As the rebel MPs switched sides, Shiv Sena (UBT) members accused them of betraying the party’s trust and loyalty. Party leader Aaditya Thackeray, speaking to media, said, “Today they are breaking our MPs and MLAs because they want to change Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution. Voters stopped them in 2024, and they got only 240 MPs. Now they are once again trying to achieve that by breaking political parties. Their main aim is to change the Constitution.”
Thackeray criticised the departing MPs as “darrpok aur bikau” (cowardly and sellouts), adding, “They were elected in the name of Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and MVA against the BJP. Now, the BJP wants to include them in their ‘daldal’ so that they can change the Constitution of the country by achieving a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha.”
Aaditya Targets BJP
Addressing the broader party split, Thackeray hit out at the BJP-led government, saying, “The way our party was split, the same way TMC and AAP were also split. If there is law and a Constitution in this country, then we can expect justice.”