Mumbai: Shortly after midnight on 16 June, a chartered aircraft carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde took off from Mumbai. Before landing in Delhi around 3 am, the flight made a stop in Jaipur, the city of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Around the same time, another chartered plane was waiting at Nanded airport for Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Nagesh Patil Ashtikar, to ferry him to Delhi. Three more flew in from different parts of Maharashtra that night, all bound for the national capital.
Together, the flights brought six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs to Delhi. There, they were scheduled to meet Birla and submit letters declaring support for Shinde’s Shiv Sena, marking the culmination of what the faction has dubbed ‘Operation Tiger’.
Although this operation was formalised Monday in Mumbai when the six MPs joined the Shinde Sena in the presence of Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, preparations started around one-and-a-half years ago, sources said.
According to sources in the Shinde Sena, after its unprecedented success in the November 2024 assembly elections, there were murmurs of discontent and revolt within the Shiv Sena (UBT).
“For quite some time now, we have been trying to get these MPs on board as we were aware that they are unhappy. We were, however, not getting six MPs on board for the longest time. That changed last week,” a Shiv Sena (Shinde) leader told ThePrint.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) had nine MPs before the split, and six (or two-thirds) were the minimum required to switch sides without being disqualified under the anti-defection law.
One of the first MPs to be convinced was Hingoli’s Nagesh Patil Ashtikar. He was later instrumental in convincing three other MPs—Sanjay Jadhav, Bhausaheb Waghchowre, and Sanjay Deshmukh—the leader added.
However, Dharashiv MP Omraje Nimbalkar, considered one of the loyalists of Uddhav Thackeray, and Mumbai North East MP Sanjay Dina Patil were not ready to switch.
“But things expedited after TMC MPs broke away from the TMC. That’s when earlier this month, Operation Tiger got accelerated,” a second Shiv Sena Shinde leader said.
Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam told the media Operation Tiger is “completely successful”.
“This is just the Jhanki (trailer)….aur bahot kuchh baki hai (a lot more is to come). Operation Tiger is 100 percent successful and this won’t be limited to MPs only. Just wait and watch what happens ahead. It would take place in the BMC as well,” Kadam said.
How it all unfolded
When speculations started rising about Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs getting ready to switch earlier this month, party president Uddhav Thackeray called a meeting of all nine MPs at his residence Matoshree on 14 June.
Only one of the rebel MPs, Sanjay Dina Patil, attended the meeting, while the rest joined via video conference, a claim neither accepted nor denied by the rebel MPs.
Sanjay Raut, Rajya Sabha MP and senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, told ThePrint Monday that during the meeting, MP Bhausaheb Waghchaure swore on Sai Baba four times within three minutes that he would remain loyal to the party.
According to Raut, another MP swore on his children, one took an oath in the name of Goddess Tulja Bhavani, while yet another swore on his deceased wife, all assuring Uddhav Thackeray of their loyalty.
“All of them told us they would not leave. What to say now. They all turned out to be liars,” Raut said.
Two days after the Matoshree meeting, Operation Tiger entered its most decisive phase. On the night of the 16th, a chartered plane was ready and waiting at the Nanded airport. Nagesh Patil Ashtikar took it to Delhi to arrive around 1.30 am.
Sanjay Jadhav and Sanjay Deshmukh flew from Nanded in another chartered flight and reached Delhi around 2 am. Bhausaheb Waghchowre took a flight and reached Delhi post midnight via Hyderabad.
Sanjay Dina Patil alongside Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik took a chartered flight from Mumbai to reach Delhi post-midnight.
Meanwhile, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde took a separate flight and reached Delhi after taking a detour to Jaipur where he met Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla. He reached Delhi around 3 am.
And the last one to arrive was MP Omraje Nimbalkar who reached around 4:30 am taking the flight from Pune.
On the 17th morning, Omraje Nimbalkar met Om Birla alongwith Deputy CM Shinde’ son and MP Shrikant Shinde who is being called the architect of this entire operation.
And later, the rest of the MPs met Om Birla, according to leaders from the Shinde faction.
Speaker Om Birla and his office have not publicly released the purported letter of support to the Shiv Sena submitted by these MPs. No photograph has been released to confirm this either.
ThePrint reached out to Om Birla’s office via phone call and email. The report will be updated if a response is received.
After this, they stayed in a five-star hotel in Noida and on 18 June, all these MPs went separate ways.
Nagesh Ashtikar went to Chennai and proceeded to Tirupati temple. Bhausaheb Waghchowre went to Varanasi to Kashi Vishwanath temple. Sanjay Deshmukh and Sanjay Jadhav went to Ayodhya to take darshan. While Sanjay Dina Patil proceeded to Mumbai and Omraje Nimbalkar went to Pune.
Meanwhile on Saturday, a special CBI court acquitted all eight accused in the 2006 murder of Omraje’s father Pawanraje Nimbalkar, a prominent Congress leader from Maharashtra’s Osmanabad (now Dharashiv) district. The senior Nimbalkar was shot dead along with his driver in June 2006.
“He (Omraje) wanted to take the decision after the verdict of his father’s murder case. But unfortunately the decision did not go in his favour. However, Eknath Shinde ji assured him that he and Shiv Sena are with him and he need not worry at all. Post which, he finally took the decision on Sunday,” one of the Shiv Sena leaders quoted above told ThePrint.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: Shinde-engineered ‘Op Tiger’ isn’t just about tussle with Uddhav. It’s a fight on two fronts
What a sad account of how Indian democracy has been destroyed. Are we to be believed these MPS switched solely due to ‘dissatisfaction’? How ridiculous. India’s democracy has been dismantled by BJP’s corruption. Who is funding BJP today? Of course the ultra-rich and contractors of the super-highways. These type of operations shouldn’t be normalised or be viewed through a heroic lens. But indead, as an anti-democratic act that must be shamed and discouraged. ThePrint knows better than getting on BJP’s wrong side in today’s political enviroment.