Only one Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde: Amit Shah's dig at UBT amid rebellion buzz

Published 20 June 2026 · politics

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday took a sharp jibe at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and declared that there is now only

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday took a sharp jibe at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and declared that there is now only one Shiv Sena, led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Addressing a thanksgiving rally in Kolhapur, Shah said that earlier people had to refer to the Shinde-led group as a separate faction, but that distinction no longer exists. Read Full Story "Earlier, we had to call the Shiv Sena Shinde faction after (Eknath) Shinde. Now, there is no faction. There is only one Shiv Sena," Shah said. His remarks came amid rebellion buzz within the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), with at least six Lok Sabha MPs believed to have revolted and likely to cross over to the ruling Shiv Sena led by Shinde.

Shah also targeted the Congress party and Uddhav Thackeray over the issue of infiltrators. "These Congress leaders and Uddhav ji, who is sitting in the lap of the Congress, want to survive by turning infiltrators into a vote bank. I want to tell them clearly that this country is not a dharmshala (charitable shelter). Only those who belong to this country will live here," Shah said. He further asserted that every infiltrator would be identified and expelled from the country. Shah's comments on Shiv Sena came as the Sena (UBT) faces an escalating internal crisis. Under what is being referred to as 'Operation Tiger', a possible mass defection of UBT parliamentarians to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has pushed the party to the brink, resulting in open hostility, missing MPs and threats of legal action.

In response, Shiv Sena (UBT) has issued fresh show-cause notices to its absentee MPs, warning them of possible disqualification. The party's Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha, Anil Desai, has issued formal notices to the absent MPs and given them 24 hours to submit a written explanation for their conduct. The notice warns that failure to respond within the stipulated period will be treated as voluntarily giving up party membership, which could invite action under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, commonly known as the Anti-Defection Law. The crisis came into sharp focus on Thursday in New Delhi during a mandatory parliamentary party meeting convened by the party leadership.

Out of the party's nine Lok Sabha MPs, only Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai and Rajabhau Waje attended the meeting called by the party whips. The remaining six MPs — Nagesh Aashtikar, Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Dina Patil, Omprakash Rajenimbalkar and Bhausaheb Wakchaure — remained absent, further intensifying speculation about a possible split within the party. Ends