Signs of a fresh split emerged in Shiv Sena (UBT) on Thursday after six of its nine Lok Sabha MPs skipped a parliamentary party meeting, indicating that a formal crossover to the ruling Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde could be imminent.
Only MPs Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai and Rajabhau Waje attended the meeting, along with the party’s lone Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut. The absence of six MPs—Nagesh Aashtikar, Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Dina Patil, Omprakash Rajenimbalkar and Bhausaheb Wakchaure—fuelled speculation of a split in the party’s parliamentary ranks.
According to sources, the six dissident MPs have signed a letter seeking a merger with the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and submitted it to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The process is still underway, with the Speaker’s office expected to verify the signatures through the physical appearance of some of the MPs in the coming days.
Ahead of the meeting, Shiv Sena (UBT) had issued a three-line whip directing all its MPs to attend. The move was seen as an attempt to pave the way for possible disqualification proceedings against rebel lawmakers. Under the anti-defection law, at least two-thirds of the parliamentary party, or six MPs in this case, are required to avoid disqualification.
Senior party leader Arvind Sawant said action would be taken against those violating the whip after consultation with party chief Uddhav Thackeray. However, leaders from the Shinde camp argued that the whip has no legal consequence under the Tenth Schedule, as it applies only to proceedings and voting inside the House and not to internal party meetings.
On Wednesday, Sawant, Anil Desai and Sanjay Raut met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and urged him to prevent any unlawful defection. Desai maintained that even with the support of two-thirds of MPs, a group cannot independently merge with another party unless the original party itself decides to merge.
The latest development comes nearly four years after Eknath Shinde engineered the 2022 split in the undivided Shiv Sena, which led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra.
