Four Shiv Sena (UBT) state legislators skipped a crucial party strategy meeting convened by chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai. The absence of three MLAs and one MLC occurred amid the political fallout of six of the party’s Lok Sabha MPs formally defecting to the rival Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
The legislators who skipped the meeting: MLC Sunil ShindeMLA Sanjay Potnis (Kalina)MLA Rahul Patil (Parbhani)MLA Sanjay Derkar (Wani)The party attributed their absence to pre-scheduled commitments, such as Legislative Council election preparations and personal obligations
The absences fueled speculation that the NDA’s “Operation Tiger” to engineer defections from the opposition is spreading to Maharashtra state politics.
Despite the defections and absences, the meeting was attended by the remaining
22 legislators.
In the midst of the gathering, Uddhav Thackeray directed his MLAs to aggressively corner the Mahayuti government on issues like the farm loan waiver, women’s safety, and drug peddling.
The six defecting Lok Sabha MPs approached the Speaker to be recognized as a separate bloc, an event that highlights as a major parliamentary blow.
News Edit KV Raman
