Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 18 (ANI): Security has been increased at the residences of six rebel Shiv Sena (UBT) Lok Sabha MPs, official sources said on Thursday, amid rising political tensions within the party and growing speculation over internal defections.
According to official sources, special security arrangements have been made at their homes and offices following threats to the rebel MPs.
The development comes at a time when six of the party’s Lok Sabha MPs skipped the parliamentary meeting in New Delhi earlier in the day. Only Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai, Rajabhau Waje, all Lok Sabha MPs, and Sanjay Raut himself were present at today’s meeting called by Desai. The remaining Lok Sabha MPs, Nagesh Aashtikar, Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Dina Patil, Omprakash Rajenimbalkar and Bhausaheb Wakchaure, remained absent.
Raut confirmed that the party has initiated disciplinary proceedings against them and said show-cause notices have already been issued to the absentees and that the party is moving ahead with disqualification proceedings.
“This fight will happen in Parliament, it will happen in court, and it will also happen on the streets. And the fight on the streets has already begun,” he said.
He further stated that only three Lok Sabha MPs attended the meeting, while others remained absent despite a party whip. “Today, we had a meeting of our parliamentary party. Three of our Lok Sabha MPs attended… The others didn’t come. We have already sent them a show-cause notice, giving them seven days to respond. After that, we’ll see,” Raut said.
In a sharp attack, Raut criticised the rebel MPs, saying, “They will be given a show-cause notice, answers will be sought, and we will move towards disqualifying their membership.”
He further escalated his criticism over the protection provided to the defectors, alleging that “security has been increased at everyone’s house and wherever they have property,” while also targeting the ruling alliance over the handling of the internal party crisis.
A split in the party appears imminent, with six of the nine MPs, according to speculations, poised to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena party. The six effectively form two-thirds of the UBT Sena strength in the Lower House of Parliament.
Maharashtra is currently witnessing a buzz over “Operation Tiger” – the speculation that seven of the nine UBT MPs were in touch with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and are looking to join the ruling party. In 2022, Shinde, along with several MLAs, broke away from Uddhav Thackeray, splitting the party into two. (ANI)
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