Nagpur/Yavatmal: Yavatmal-Washim Lok Sabha member Sanjay Deshmukh, the only Shiv Sena (UBT) MP from Vidarbha, attended party chief Uddhav Thackeray‘s emergency meeting for MPs at Matoshree on Sunday in virtual mode and asserted that he was firmly with his party. Reports have been swirling that deputy CM Eknath Shinde is on the verge of poaching seven UBT MPs to increase Shiv Sena’s strength in Parliament. “I am with Uddhavji only. I could not attend the meeting in person, but I was there throughout in virtual mode. We are dedicated soldiers of Balasaheb Thackeray and will stay with his party only,” Deshmukh told TOI. Besides Deshmukh, other MPs who attended the meeting virtually included Omraje Nimbalkar, Bhausaheb Waghchaure and Nagesh Ashtikar. MPs Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai, Sanjay Dina Patil and Rajabhau Waje attended the meeting in person at Matoshree. Uddhav also spoke to Parbhani MP Sanjay Bandu Jadhav on the phone. After the meeting, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut issued a public statement saying all nine UBT Lok Sabha MPs had reaffirmed their loyalty and called for the chatter to be put to rest. “Now at least, this market of rumours should shut down,” he said, listing the names of all the attendees as confirmation that the parliamentary party was intact.The meeting was triggered by what political circles have dubbed “Operation Tiger”, an alleged push by Shinde to lure away six of the nine UBT Lok Sabha members ahead of the monsoon session. The Centre is expected to reintroduce the delimitation and women’s reservation bills in the session, and an inflow of UBT defectors, together with the reported revolt of 20 TMC MPs, would give the BJP-led NDA the two-thirds majority it needs in both Houses.Under the anti-defection law, at least seven of the nine UBT Lok Sabha MPs would need to break away together to avoid disqualification, which has kept Shinde’s outreach a numbers game.
