The meeting called by Thackeray is significant as Shiv Sena ministers have been openly saying that the Sena (UBT) MPs are soon going to join their camp. Union Minister Pratap Jadhav from the Sena had recently claimed that at least seven MPs from the Sena (UBT) camp would soon switch over to their side as part of ‘Operation Tiger‘.
“There is no truth to this Operation Tiger (getting Uddhav Thackeray MPs to the Shinde camp). You can see that there were four MPs at the meeting and the rest five were present through video conferencing,” said Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut after the meeting.
Although Sena (UBT) has claimed that five of its MPs were present online and that talks of their MPs joining the Shinde camp had no substance, the very fact that only four MPs were present physically for the party meeting has set tongues wagging.
Incidentally, only one of the five MPs’ who was ‘present online’ — Nagesh Patil Ashtikar — came out in public to claim that he could not attend the meeting physically as he was busy with his son who is contesting the MLC polls. Raut however claimed that the rest could not be physically present due to personal and medical reasons. “Sanjay Deshmukh could not come as he is busy with his daughter’s wedding, Bhausaheb Wakchaure’s wife has been admitted in hospital. Hence, he could not come. Similarly, Omraje Nimbalkar’s son is also admitted to hospital. Hence, he could not come.”
Incidentally, Sanjay Jadhav, the Sena (UBT) MP from Parbhani was seen participating in a satsang when the meeting was going on. Raut however claimed that Jadhav would be visiting Thackeray in the next couple of days. Jadhav had in May claimed that while he was currently with Uddhav Thackeray he could not say “what would happen in future”.
Sources within the Shiv Sena camp said while they have got positive signal from at least six MPs, they are likely to switch over closer to the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
