Mumbai: The latest rebellion in the Shiv Sena (UBT) led by its six MPs puts the spotlight back on how the party founded by Bal Thackeray in 1966 has seen many rebellions and leadership tussles throughout its history.
The current split involving six MPs—Nagesh Patil Ashtikar, Omraje Nimbalkar, Sanjay Dina Patil, Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Jadhav, and Bhausaheb Wakchaure—has once again brought the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena to its knees.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) faction itself was formed after the 2022 rebellion by Eknath Shinde broke the party vertically. The name Shiv Sena and the party symbol went to the Shinde faction.
Formalising the latest split in the Uddhav Thackeray-led party on Monday, six rebel Lok Sabha members of the Shiv Sena (UBT) joined the ruling Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbai.
In this backdrop, ThePrint takes a look at how the previous rebellions played out and what happened to those who rebelled.
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Bandu Shingre rebellion in 1974
In the 1970s, Bal Thackeray was still trying to make his Shiv Sena a political party to reckon with, when Bandu Shingre tried to challenge his authority. He floated a ‘Parallel Shiv Sena’ called ‘Prati Shiv Sena’ in 1974 when Thackeray supported the candidature of Congress’s Ramrao Adik in the Central Mumbai Lok Sabha bypoll in 1974.
However, his rebellion fizzled out quickly as it lacked grassroots structure and organisational strength. Not much is known about his politics since that failed revolt.
Chhagan Bhujbal in 1991
One of the major challenges to Bal Thackeray and his Shiv Sena came in 1991 when fiery leader Chhagan Bhujbal revolted against Thackeray. He was then the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly, but he revolted and walked out of the party. Bhujbal was considered a trusted aide of Thackeray, but he decided to walk out owing to the differences with the leadership.
He and his supporters later moved towards the Congress and then Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) when it was formed in 1999. Bhujbal then became the deputy chief minister, state home minister under the NCP-Congress government.
He is still considered as one of the tallest OBC leaders in the state. When Ajit Pawar broke away from Sharad Pawar’s NCP, Bhujbal followed him. He expected a Lok Sabha seat in 2024, but the Ajit Pawar-led NCP denied him.
Later in 2026, when the late Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar resigned as Rajya Sabha MP to become Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister, he hoped to get the seat in the Upper House. But it did not materialise.
Bhujbal, though not really happy with the party leadership, continues to remain with NCP, now led by Sunetra Pawar. He serves as the Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection in the current Maharashtra government.
Narayan Rane in 2005
Another major upset in the party came in 2005 when irrepressible Narayan Rane was expelled from the party. Rane was chief minister for a brief period in 1999 in the Shiv Sena-BJP government.
However, he had started developing differences with Uddhav Thackeray and his leadership. The internal revolt reached a peak when Uddhav was made the successor by Bal Thackeray in 2003. Rane’s public outburst against Bal Thackeray in 2005 led to his expulsion.
After spending 39 years in Shiv Sena, he quit and later joined the Congress and was made the revenue minister in Congress-NCP government between 2005 and 2010. He remained in Congress for nearly 12 years.
He claims he was given an assurance that he would be made chief minister within six months of his joining, a promise that was never fulfilled.
In 2017, he quit the Congress and floated his own party ‘Swabhiman Paksh’ and declared support to the BJP. In 2019, he merged his party within the BJP and since then he is with the BJP.
Within the BJP, he served as the Union Minister for MSMEs from 2021-2024. In 2024, he was given a Lok Sabha ticket from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg where he defeated Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut.
Rane’s sons—Nilesh and Nitesh—also joined the BJP. In 2024 assembly polls, Nilesh contested from Shiv Sena Shinde ticket and won while Nitesh contested from BJP and won. Now, Nitesh is a minister in Mahayuti government and considered a close aide to CM Devendra Fadnavis.
Raj Thackeray in 2005-06
One of the shocking Shiv Sena exits was by Raj Thackeray. Considered Bal Thackeray’s political heir for the longest time, Raj was forced to quit the party in 2005. His reasons were similar to Rane’s. They did not accept the leadership of Raj’s cousin Uddhav Thackeray. His exit worsened the family ties and cousins remained estranged for long.
Following his exit, Raj floated Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in 2006. Many Shiv Sainiks at that time joined the MNS, and the party could form a base in Mumbai and few other metro cities in Maharashtra. Especially in Nashik and Thane. There was initial euphoria about the party.
The party made its presence felt in 2009 assembly polls where it won 13 seats, largely by cutting into Shiv Sena’s votes. The party initially fought on local sons of soil issue and Marathi language issue.
The party even got Nashik Municipal Corporation in 2012. However, the party’s prospects started going downhill since then. Raj Thackeray also started changing his political stand every now and then.
In 2019, he openly supported the NCP-Congress during Lok Sabha and assembly polls. However, post the formation of Maha Vikas Aghadi in the state, Raj started supporting Narendra Modi. In 2024, he gave his unconditional support to Modi in Lok Sabha while he unsuccessfully contested Assembly polls the same year by supporting Mahayuti.
But after the debacle in assembly polls, Raj extended an olive branch to his estranged cousin Uddhav and both came in alliance for the BMC polls in 2026. Currently, he is politically far from achieving his hay days. His rallies still draw huge crowds.
Eknath Shinde in 2022
The rebellion that changed the Shiv Sena forever came in 2022 when Eknath Shinde, considered a trusted Uddhav Thackeray aide, engineered a split in the party, taking away more than 40 of the total 56 MLAs with him.
At that time, the Shiv Sena was the prime partner in the MVA government and Uddhav Thackeray was the chief minister. The rebellion shook the party to the core. Shinde claimed he is the original Sena, and laid claim on the party name and symbol. He became the chief minister in place of Uddhav, with the support of the BJP.
Shinde currently has the original name and symbol of Shiv Sena while a legal battle is going on over party name and symbol, and outside a battle of legacy is playing out. Majority of the organisational workers, corporators across the state sided with Shinde.
Currently, he is serving as the deputy CM under Devendra Fadnavis. He has engineered what is by far the biggest and most successful rebellion—from the point of view of the dissidents—in the Shiv Sena.
This rebellion by six MPs is the latest straw that has further crippled the Sena UBT.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)