MUMBAI: The crossover of two-thirds of Shiv Sena (UBT)'s nine Lok Sabha members to the Eknath Shinde-led party seems nearly complete as the six MPs, who had written to the Lok Sabha Speaker Wednesday about forming a separate group, did not attend the parliamentary party meeting called by Uddhav Thackeray's party in Delhi Thursday by issuing a whip.
The meeting was attended by the other three — Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai and Rajabhau Waze — who had already made it clear they stood by Uddhav. The rebels need two-thirds of the party's LS tally (six of nine MPs) to avoid attracting provisions of the anti-defection law.
In their letter to Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday, the group of rebel MPs wrote that fear of Shiv Sena (UBT)'s merger with Congress and the party's deviation from its core ideology were among the main reasons for them to form a separate group. The group also asked Om Birla to allot seats for them near the seven seats occupied by MPs from the Shinde Sena in Parliament.
Action Threatened Against Absent MPs
Sena UBT Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said Thursday that action will be taken against the MPs who had not turned up for the parliamentary party meeting as a 'whip' had been issued. Lok Sabha MP Arvind Sawant said notices have been sent to the absent MPs.
In the rebel camp, five of the six rebel MPs, barring Omraje Nimbalkar who was in Pune, were moved to Jaipur Thursday to ensure they did not show up for the UBT meeting. They were in New Delhi on Wednesday and flew out on Thursday morning. The six MPs are expected to join the Shinde-led Sena next week after they meet the Lok Sabha Speaker and get their group recognised. Sena sources said Sena UBT MP Sanjay Jadhav is the “group leader of the breakaway MPs”.
Sawant said, “The absent MPs have betrayed the party. We are going to issue show-cause notices to them by the evening. If they do not respond within seven days, legal action will be taken. We will write to the Speaker as well as the MPs. Our party’s directive (whip) was issued, and everyone received it. Despite that, they were not present here today.”
Raut's Tirade Continues
Raut continued his tirade of abuses against the six MPs Thursday. He claimed NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar had called him and said they must go to the constituencies of rebel MPs and hold protests. Raut said Pawar himself was ready to hold protest meetings.
Raut described the action against the breakaway MPs as 'Operation Tudwa'. He claimed the dissident MPs were given “an additional Rs 10 crore” and then moved to a safe location in Rajasthan. He demanded that police security extended to the “traitors” be withdrawn.
He said, “We met yesterday, me, Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai, and a photo of us was published. If those six people have met, show their faces... You are still members of the party. You won the election in the name of our party and on our party’s election symbol… dishonesty will cost Eknath Shinde very dearly, and it will also cost the traitors.”
