MUMBAI: Amid speculation that six of its nine MPs were headed for Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, Shiv Sena (UBT) claimed that all of them attended a meeting called by party chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday. It said four of them—Arvind Sawant, Rajabhau Waje, Sanjay Dina Patil and Anil Desai—turned up at Matoshree, while five—Nagesh Ashtikar, Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Deshmukh, Bhausaheb Wakchoure and Om Raje Nimbalkar—marked their presence online and over the phone. Party functionaries said the five MPs gave valid reasons to Thackeray for their absence.“Ashtikar is busy with MLC elections in his constituency. Jadhav spoke with Uddhav Thackeray and said he will meet him two days later. Deshmukh has a wedding at home. Wakchoure’s wife is ill, as is Nimbalkar’s son,” said a senior functionary. “All 9 MPs were present in hybrid mode.”Party MP Sanjay Raut put up a show of unity. “All MPs are firmly standing united and loyally behind Shiv Sena (UBT). Aaditya Thackeray was present at the meeting. Now, at least, we hope the rumor mill will shut down,” he said in a post on X.Raut was referring to speculation that Shinde’s bloc was engineering another split in Thackeray’s party. The anti-defection law doesn’t kick in if at least 75% of a party’s legislators rebel in one go—else, the dissidents get disqualified. In the case of Sena (UBT), if less than seven MPs cross over, they will face disqualification under the law.Over the last few months, there have been several instances of Sena (UBT) MPs meeting Shinde and other top Sena netas, giving rise to intense speculation that a split was in the offing. Ashtikar, Hingoli MP, recently visited Shinde at his official residence, Waje from Nashik held a meeting with Sena MP Shrikant Shinde, and Shirdi’s Wakchaure met industries minister Uday Samant.Jadhav created a stir last month with his assertion that “it is impossible to say what will happen next”. “I will never betray those who made me grow, but the current situation has changed. Economic calculations are important in elections. So, it is impossible to say what will happen next,” he said.The buzz of a split grew stronger following a rebellion in Trinamool Congress, an INDIA bloc ally, by over 75% of its legislators after its loss in the West Bengal election, akin to the splits in Shiv Sena and NCP in Maharashtra.CM Devendra Fadnavis refused to be drawn into discussions over a potential rebellion in Sena (UBT), saying he had no idea who attended the meeting. (With agency input)
