Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 22 (ANI): Amid heightened political churn in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with party leaders in Mumbai on Monday, where discussions were held on upcoming political developments, organisational matters, and the legislature’s strategy.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of the Mahayuti alliance’s sweeping performance in the recent Maharashtra Legislative Council polls, where it won 16 of 17 seats, and reports of “Operation Tiger,” an alleged attempt to engineer defections from the Shiv Sena (UBT) to the Eknath Shinde-led faction, further intensifying political uncertainty.
Earlier, the ruling Mahayuti alliance registered a commanding victory in the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, winning 16 of the 17 seats for which results were declared on Monday.
Polling for 17 seats was held on June 18. However, six Mahayuti candidates had already been elected unopposed before voting, giving the alliance an early advantage.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the biggest gainer, winning 11 seats, while Shiv Sena (Shinde) secured three seats and the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) won two.
The only seat that did not go to an official Mahayuti candidate was Nashik, where an Independent candidate and BJP rebel Gokul Gite defeated Shiv Sena nominee Narendra Darade. Gite’s victory is being seen as a significant setback for the Shiv Sena in the constituency.
Among the candidates elected unopposed were Ravindra Phatak (Thane) and Dushyant Chaturvedi (Yavatmal) from Shiv Sena, Aniket Tatkare (Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg) and Vikram Kakade (Pune) from NCP, and Arun Lakhani (Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli) and Prajakt Tanpure (Ahilyanagar) from BJP.
The BJP’s victorious candidates included Suhas Shirshat (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna), Avinash Brahmankar (Bhandara-Gondia), Dhairyashil Kadam (Sangli-Satara), Rajendra Raut (Solapur), Basavaraj Patil (Dharashiv-Latur-Beed), Rajiv Potdar (Nagpur), Nandkishor Mahajan (Jalgaon), Pravin Pote (Amravati) and Amar Rajurkar (Nanded). Shiv Sena’s Saiyed Khan won from the Parbhani-Hingoli constituency.
The results further strengthen Mahayuti’s position in Maharashtra’s local self-government institutions and are being viewed as a major political boost for the ruling alliance ahead of upcoming electoral battles in the state.
Moreover, the controversy has intensified after a parliamentary party meeting held in New Delhi on Thursday was attended by only three of the party’s nine Lok Sabha MPs. While Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai and Rajabhau Waje attended the meeting, six MPs, including Sanjay Dina Patil, remained absent.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut had earlier said that the process of seeking the disqualification of the absent MPs had already begun.
Maharashtra is currently witnessing a buzz over “Operation Tiger,” the speculation that six of the nine UBT MPs were in touch with 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.
The six MPs whose absence fuelled speculation are Nagesh Aashtikar, Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Dina Patil, Omprakash Rajenimbalkar and Bhausaheb Wakchaure.On the other hand, Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai, Rajabhau Waje and Sanjay Raut attended the party’s parliamentary meeting. (ANI)
Related reading
