Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 18 (ANI): Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Anand Dubey on Saturday said that the Lok Sabha Speaker’s approval for the merger of six party MPs into the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena “weakened democracy.”
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday approved the merger of six Shiv Sena (UBT) rebel MPs with the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. This takes the Shiv Sena’s strength to 13, reducing UBT Sena to three members in the Lok Sabha.
The six MPs included Sanjay Dina Patil, Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Deshmukh, Bhausaheb Wakchaure, Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar and Omprakash Rajenimbalkar.
In a self-made video, Anand Dubey alleged that the decision was taken without consulting both sides. Recalling the split led by Shinde in 2022, Dubey said that the party has been battling the same issue since then.
Dubey said, “When our party was being broken in 2022, we started our fight, and now it is 2026. In these 4 years, we never came to know what mistake we committed. Our party’s name was stolen, and our election symbol was stolen. The then Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari played a major role against us.”
Condemning the merger, the UBT Sena leader alleged that their six party leaders were “stolen.”
“Our party has been broken once again in 2026, and six of our MPs have been stolen. Now, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s role is also not hidden from anyone. When we approach the Court, it takes time. When we approach the EC, Lok Sabha Speaker or Governor, they issue immediate orders against us. Our MPs also wrote to Speaker Om Birla to consult both sides before making a decision. This shows that democracy is weakening. If people’s trust in democracy weakens, how will we become Viksit Bharat or Vishwaguru?” he asked.
In a brief reaction to reporters in Nagpur, Sanjay Raut also exclaimed, “What kind of result is this?”
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also termed the Speaker’s decision a “betrayal of the politics of principle” as leaders who were supposed to be in the opposition will now be part of the ruling camp.
Tharoor said, “I’m not surprised. But I’m sure that some of these issues, the parties concerned, also look at legal possibilities through the courts. All avenues will be explored. But politically, what we have seen happening over the last few weeks – if that becomes reality – we’ll just have to see how the numbers add up. Ultimately, it is a betrayal of the politics of principle that we all agree on because you have been elected to be a strong opposition; you have chosen to be instead a part of the ruling establishment. That is something which changes things.”
Maharashtra BJP MLA Ram Kadam maintained that the merger did not violate any House rules and asserted that Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde led the “real Shiv Sena.”
“This decision is entirely in accordance with the rules. Regarding the MPs from the UBT faction: since the ‘real’ Shiv Sena has aligned with Eknath Shinde, and these MPs themselves expressed a desire to join that faction, they have been granted permission based on numerical strength and the rules. They will now officially be recognised as MPs of the real Shiv Sena, and the seating arrangements made for them, as well as for certain TMC MPs, are fully compliant with the rules,” Ram Kadam said.
Last month, Shiv Sena (UBT) witnessed another split, with six Lok Sabha MPs joining the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the BJP, currently holds 298 seats in the Lok Sabha, including the Speaker. (ANI)
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