Nagpur: Shiv Sena (UBT) plans to send its senior members to Vidarbha to rebuild a base that has thinned sharply. For this, the UBT is banking on the party’s loyalists in the region, a senior functionary of the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.The functionary, who wanted seniors to declare the plan for rallies, claimed, “The party brass will announce the plan and schedule, but very soon Uddhav Thackeray will come to Nagpur for a massive rally. Senior members will fan out across Vidarbha and later, Aaditya Thackeray will mobilise the youth voters who are yearning for a change,” he said.Claiming that UBT has a dedicated vote bank in Vidarbha, the functionary said, “Shiv Sena led by Uddhav is the one that commands loyalty among voters. People connect with him because he was appointed as the party’s in charge when Balasaheb was alive,” he said.On the 2024 Assembly election results, the functionary claimed, “What happened in 2024 was that voters were given cash incentives with schemes like Ladki Bahin, and people got fooled. Let the 2029 polls come and you will see that the real Shiv Sena will win.”The push comes as the party reels from defections. Six of its Lok Sabha MPs recently switched to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Thackeray is touring the constituencies they represented.Thackeray stopped in Nagpur on Friday for a few minutes to address party workers at the city airport before driving to Yavatmal. “I promise you that I will come to Nagpur specially for you. And when I come, we will hold a proper Shiv Sena style rally,” he said then, which led to the party functionaries strategising on future steps. No date has been set for the Nagpur rally.Recalling his earlier rally at Kasturchand Park, Thackeray took a dig at the Mahayuti govt, wondering whether it had left a ground big enough in the city for such a gathering. He struck a defiant note. Thackeray said, “Shiv Sena is here, Shiv Sena will remain. No matter how many generations of opponents come, they cannot finish this party.”The six exits came after Shinde hinted at a bigger action to follow, amid talk of “Operation Tiger 3.0” to draw Opposition legislators into his camp.
