MUMBAI: In a significant political development, six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs have reportedly formed a separate group in the Lok Sabha and submitted a letter to Speaker Om Birla. The MPs are expected to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on June 19, the party's foundation day. According to Sena functionaries, the process of forming the separate group was completed smoothly.
Party Dynamics and Reactions
The Shiv Sena (UBT) holds nine MPs in the Lok Sabha. Barring Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai, and Rajabhau Waze, all other MPs are understood to have joined the new group. Meanwhile, Sena (UBT) MPs Sanjay Raut, Sawant, and Desai met Speaker Om Birla and urged him not to recognize any separate group formed by defecting MPs. However, Sena functionaries claimed that Birla had recognized the group of six MPs as a separate bloc.
Party Whip and Meeting
Amid reports of "Operation Tiger" being underway to engineer a split in the Sena (UBT), the party issued a whip directing all its Lok Sabha MPs to attend a parliamentary party meeting in Delhi on Thursday at 11 am. The whip was issued by MP Anil Desai, the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha. The notice stated: "All Lok Sabha Members of Shiv Sena (UBT) are hereby informed that an important meeting of the Parliamentary Party regarding various issues concerning the party will be held on Thursday, June 18, 2026, at 11 am at Parliamentary Party Office 128-A, Parliament House, New Delhi. All Lok Sabha members of Shiv Sena (UBT) must remain present for the meeting."
Sena (UBT) functionaries indicated that party chief Uddhav Thackeray may travel to Delhi in an attempt to pacify the MPs and could attend the parliamentary party meeting on Thursday.
Legal and Procedural Moves
Late on Tuesday, Sena (UBT) parliamentary party leader Arvind Sawant wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, requesting him not to entertain any claim seeking recognition of a separate group or a merger with another political party by the defecting MPs. Sawant emphasized that the party's claim that Shiv Sena (UBT) represents the "real Shiv Sena" remains sub judice before the Supreme Court, and his letter was written without prejudice to that claim. He was responding to reports that certain MPs elected on the Sena (UBT)'s symbol had either approached, or were contemplating approaching, the Speaker seeking recognition as a separate group or merger with another political party within the Lok Sabha.
