Mumbai, June 18 (IANS) The political landscape of Maharashtra has been upended once again by a meticulously planned, highly confidential defection codenamed “Operation Tiger”.

Orchestrated by Maharashtra’s political strategists, the operation successfully split the Shiv Sena-UBT Parliamentary wing, leaving Uddhav Thackeray with just three loyal Lok Sabha MPs out of nine.

Despite a strict party whip issued to attend a crucial Parliamentary Party meeting on Thursday in Delhi, six MPs revolted, skipped the meeting, and formally moved to align themselves with Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena Chief leader Eknath Shinde’s faction.

The Shinde faction insiders said that to avoid raising red flags within the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction, the six rebel MPs travelled from different locations, taking entirely separate routes and modes of transport to converge on the national capital.

On June 16 at 1:30 a.m., rebel Shiv Sena-UBT MP Nagesh Patil Ashtikar arrived in Delhi via flight from Nanded.

On the same day, Sanjay Deshmukh and Sanjay Bandu Jadhav arrived in the afternoon on separate flights from Nanded. In the evening, Bhausaheb Wakchaure reached Delhi via private jet from Hyderabad. In the night, Sanjay Dina Patil arrived with Minister Pratap Sarnaik.

On June 17, at 3 a.m., Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde arrived in Delhi via Mumbai-Jaipur route and at 4:30 a.m., Omprakashraje Nimbalkar arrived in Delhi via Pune. Upon their arrival, all six MPs were quietly checked into Delhi’s five star hotel which served as the operational base.

On the morning of June 17, the Shiv Sena-UBT split was formalised in consecutive, tightly scheduled meetings with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

At 7 a.m. on Wednesday, rebel Shiv Sena-UBT MP Omprakashraje Nimbalkar met with Speaker Om Birla alone to set the groundwork. At 10:20 a.m. on the same day, the remaining five MPs joined Nimbalkar to hand over a signed, official resolution.

In their formal submission to the Lok Sabha Speaker, the six MPs declared that the Shiv Sena-UBT had deviated significantly from its core ideological foundation, alleging that senior party leaders were actively attempting to merge the party into Congress. Saying that they had collectively decided to form a separate group, they officially requested to merge with Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction and demanded that their seating arrangements in the Lok Sabha chamber be changed to reflect this shift. The critical turning point occurred late on the night of June 17.

The Uddhav Thackeray group’s Parliamentary leader, Arvind Sawant, had called for a “Litmus Test” meeting the following day to gauge the MPs’ loyalty.

To prevent any counter-negotiations or change of heart, Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena MP and the son of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde), who was managing the ground operations in Delhi, initiated a vital 30-minute late-night conference call between Deputy CM Eknath Shinde and the block of six MPs.

During this call, specific anxieties surrounding high-profile MPs like Omprakashraje Nimbalkar (Dharashiv) and Sanjay Dina Patil (North East Mumbai) were resolved.

Shrikant Shinde gave a firm assurance, saying: “The Shiv Sena will stand solidly behind you.”

Following the call, and to ensure the rebel Shiv Sena-UBT MPs remained entirely out of reach of Uddhav Thackeray’s emissaries, the six MPs were quietly moved at dawn on Thursday from their Delhi hotel to a secure location in Rajasthan’s Jaipur.

Immediately after submitting their letters, the rebel Shiv Sena-UBT MPs dispersed across the country to maintain a low profile.

Nagesh Patil Ashtikar flew to Chennai, then travelled to Tirupati for darshan, Bhausaheb Waghchaure travelled to Varanasi, Sanjay Deshmukh and Sanjay Jadhav at Ayodhya, Sanjay Patil returned to Mumbai while Omprakash Raje travelled back to Pune.

With six out of nine Lok Sabha MPs defecting, the Shinde faction holds a clear two-thirds majority of the Parliamentary Party, heavily tilting the legal scales in their favour under the anti-defection laws (the Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution).

Aggrieved by the defiance of their party whip, the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction has announced plans to aggressively approach Speaker Om Birla to demand the immediate disqualification of the six members.

Sources within the Shinde camp indicate that they are moving deliberately.

No joint photographs or formal merger announcements will be made for the next 48 hours while legal teams vet potential counter-moves from the Opposition.

A formal in-person meeting between Eknath Shinde and the six MPs is scheduled for June 20, where the official paperwork and reasons for their departure will be made public.

Meanwhile, anticipating localised political backlash following sharp public warnings from Shiv Sena-UBT leader Sanjay Raut, police security has been significantly beefed up outside the residences of all six rebel MPs across Maharashtra.

–IANS

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