Amid ‘Operation Tiger’ buzz, Uddhav holds meeting of party’s LS MPs; all 9 lawmakers mark presence

Amid intense speculation of potential crossovers to Eknath Shinde's ruling faction, Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray held a crucial review meeting on Sunday, with all nine of the party's Lok Sabha MPs attending either physically or virtually

Mumbai: Amid intense speculation that some Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs might switch sides, party chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday held a meeting of his faction’s Lok Sabha MPs, which all nine lawmakers attended either virtually or in person.

After the meeting, party’s lone Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut said all MPs were firmly with the party.

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Four MPs attended the meeting in person, while four others marked their presence virtually, and one MP spoke to Thackeray over phone, he said.

The meeting was held at Thackeray’s residence ‘Matoshree’ in Bandra East area here in the afternoon.

The development assumed significance amid the buzz that some MPs might cross over to the ruling Shiv Sena, led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, under ‘Operation Tiger’.

In a social media post, Raut said four MPs, including three from Mumbai – Anil Desai, Arvind Sawant and Sanjay Patil – along with Nashik MP Rajabhau Waje, attended the meeting in person.

Four other MPs – Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar (Dharashiv), Bhausaheb Wakchaure (Shirdi), Nagesh Bapurao Patil Ashtikar (Hingoli) and Sanjay Deshmukh (Yavatmal-Washim) – attended the meeting virtually, he said, adding that MP Sanjay Jadhav (Parbhani) spoke to Thackeray over phone.

Raut said party MLA Aaditya Thackeray was also present for the meeting.

“All MPs are firmly standing united and are loyally behind the Shiv Sena (UBT). Now, at least, we hope the rumour mill will stop!” he said.

An MP who was part of the meeting said Nimbalkar attended the meeting online as his son has been admitted to a hospital, while Wakchaure is in Hyderabad attending to his wife who is admitted there.

Jadhav, who had skipped party meetings in the past, was also preoccupied, he said.

Deshmukh cited a similar reason and attended the meeting virtually, as did Ashtikar Patil, who is busy campaigning for his son contesting the legislative council polls, he added.

The MP said party chief Thackeray asked the lawmakers to keep an eye on the disbursal of farm loan waiver money announced by the Maharashtra government and also coordinate with party MLAs wherever possible.