Mumbai: With six of its nine Members of Parliament in Delhi to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) is on the verge of yet another split.
These MPs—enough to escape the stringent provisions of the anti-defection law—could form a separate group and seek recognition, or merge with Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena.This latest development comes just a few days before the Shiv Sena’s 60th foundation day.
The high-voltage drama began late on Tuesday when MPs Sanjay Deshmukh (Yavatmal Washim), Sanjay Dina Patil (Mumbai North East), Sanjay Jadhav (Parbhani), Nagesh Ashtikar (Hingoli), Omraje Nimbalkar (Dharashiv), and Bhausaheb Waghchowre (Shirdi) went to Delhi where, according to some sources, they met Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
While contrary numbers and names of rebel legislators continued to swirl around, most reports said that Rajabhau Waje (Shirdi), Anil Desai (Mumbai North Central) and Arvind Sawant (Mumbai South) are the only MPs with Uddhav Thackeray as of now.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut has alleged that every rebel is being given an advance of Rs 15 crore to switch sides.
Speculation is also rife that Hingoli MP Nagesh Ashtikar is breaking away from Sena UBT. Raut, however, claimed that Ashtikar is still in Hingoli.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief whip in the Lok Sabha Anil Desai has called a meeting of party MPs on Thursday. According to party sources, the party plans to approach court if the breakaway faction forms a separate group.
Late on Tuesday, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP and party leader in Lok Sabha Arvind Sawant had written a letter to Speaker Om Birla, stating that any separate group should not be recognised. “The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) continue to be recognised as a single political party represented in the House through its duly authorised leader and whip, and that no separate recognition, status, privilege or facility be accorded to any purported faction or breakaway group claiming to represent the party,” Sawant said in his letter.
“No decision be taken on any such request, if received, without first affording the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) an opportunity to place its submissions before your office,” he wrote.
In his letter, Sawant further said that after 2003 amendment to the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, the legal provision for a split no longer exists.
Sources within the Shiv Sena (UBT) say that the Shinde side has been trying to poach their MPs for two years now.
The Trinamool Congress split earlier this month has only fuelled speculation of a similiar split in the Shiv Sena (UBT). On Sunday, party leader Uddhav Thackeray had called a meeting of his MPs at his residence, Matoshree. Only four of the nine turned up, and few believed Raut’s later claim that they had joined the meeting online. Interestingly, Sanjay Dina Patil had attended the meeting at Matoshree.
Raut, meanwhile, attacked the rebel faction, saying “if MPs are getting bought and sold then what is the point of having elections?”
“I don’t know where these MPs of our party are at the moment. All these MPs got elected on our symbol. They have no right to do fraud with us.”
Those who want to go should give resignation and leave, he said, adding that legal recourse would be taken against them.
In a related development, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant signalled support to the beleaguered Uddhav Thackeray. “There is a case in the Supreme Court regarding our party. Nobody has met us, or Uddhav ji. … Whoever is being called a corrupt, is in BJP the next day. This is not democracy. We trusted all those who attended the meeting via video conferencing, he said.
The party, he said, is more than its elected lawmakers, be it MPs or MLAs.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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