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Maharashtra Minister Uday Samanta had claimed several support and former MLAs and six MPs of Shivasena (UBT) that he was negotiating to join the Shiv Sena -led Shiv Sena.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde (File)
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday openly challenged and dared his ex-party person and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde of UBT groups to Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Responding to the media reports of his party members to join Shinde’s joining Shiv Sena, Thackeray dared Shinde to say that if he is a ‘Mard Ki Aulad’ (son of a man), and fight with him.
“If you are (Eknath Shinde and BJP)Mard’s child‘Ed, CBI, Income Tax and Police Keep separate and come and fight with us. We will show you which is the real Shiv Sena, “Thackeray said as a quoted by news agency Annie.
Thackeray further warned that if Shinde “tried to break us now, we would break your head.”
Thakere was strictly warned after Maharashtra Minister Uday Samanta, who was interacting to join many of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and former MLAs and six MPs to join the Shiv Sena led Shinde.
According to sources, the Shiv Sena faction led by Shinde is leading Operation Tiger to achieve it. The deputy CM has confirmed that preparations for Operation Tiger have been completed.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has nine members in the Lok Sabha and two in the Rajya Sabha.
MPs claim their loyalty to UBT faction
On Friday, Shiv Sena (UBT) Lok Sabha members – Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai, Omraj Nimblkar, Bhusaheb Vakkur, Rajbhau Vaje, Sanjay Jadhav, Nagesh Ashtikar and Sanjay Deshmukh – held a joint press conference to their allegations.
Sawant said that none of the Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs had received a phone call and condemned the efforts of “spreading rumors” about a large -scale desert from Thackeray -led party.
The former Union Minister said that Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs were with the party in difficult times and will continue to do so.
Shiv Sena split
The BJP -led Mahayuti in Maharashtra in November has been harassing the two organizations since coming to power, except for the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghdi (MVA) alliance with just 46 seats in the 288 -member assembly.
The Shiv Sena-led Shiv Sena won 57 seats in the recently held assembly elections, which got an upper hand on Thackeray-led organization, who won just 20 seats in the 288-member assembly.
Uddhav Thackeray faced a major setback in June 2022 when his party divided into two after senior leader Eknath Shinde revolted. Out of 56, 40 MLAs joined the Shinde faction, which led to the fall of the MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray.
The rebellion was engineered by the BJP, which made the Chief Minister the Chief Minister in the gradual government. Shinde’s faction was recognized as the original Shiv Sena by the Election Commission and the Speaker.
Shiv Sena’s election symbol, bow and arrow, were also allotted to the Shinde faction. Uddhav Thackeray had to rename his group as Shiv Sena (UBT). The issue of the party’s official name and election symbol is under litigation as Uddhav Thackeray has challenged the order of the Election Commission in the Supreme Court.
(With input from agencies)
