NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Monday launched a sharp attack on the party’s rebel Lok Sabha members amid the ongoing ‘Operation Tiger’ buzz, accusing them of selling their loyalty and reputation for political gain as the Uddhav Thackeray-led outfit faces a major internal crisis.His remarks came amid a major setback for Shiv Sena (UBT), with six of its nine Lok Sabha members set to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, deepening the split within the party and dealing another blow to Uddhav Thackeray’s party over the past four years. The rebel MPs have already informed Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla about their decision to form a separate group and are expected to formally align with the Shinde camp.In a post on X, Aaditya Thackeray said the MPs who switched sides had betrayed the mandate of voters who elected them on the platform of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the INDIA bloc.“To the greedy MPs who have hopped over, you only prove the following, stronger than before: your loyalty, your reputation is for sale, shamelessly. The government is biased and uses public money, politically, as funds,” Aaditya wrote.The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said all the MPs now switching sides had contested and won elections with the support of leaders from Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP).“All of the ones that are jumping over now were elected on the platforms of the MVA and the INDIA, against the NDA,” he said.He added that the MPs had sought campaign rallies from leaders across alliance parties during the elections and could not justify their defection through ideological arguments.“The voters voted against the NDA candidates and for INDIA in your constituencies and for all it stands for. Just accept that your greed got you to ditch all of it overnight, shamelessly,” Aaditya wrote.The remarks come as Shiv Sena (UBT) stares at another major split nearly four years after Eknath Shinde’s rebellion divided the party.Six MPs stayed away from a parliamentary party meeting convened by the Uddhav Thackeray camp in Delhi despite a party whip. Only Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai and Rajabhau Waze attended the meeting and publicly reaffirmed their support for Uddhav Thackeray.The rebel MPs reportedly cited concerns over a possible merger of Shiv Sena (UBT) with Congress and alleged deviation from the party’s original ideology as reasons for their decision.Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders have indicated disciplinary action against the absent MPs.Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut said action would be initiated as the MPs ignored an official party whip. Lok Sabha member Arvind Sawant said showcause notices would be issued and legal steps would follow if satisfactory responses were not received.Raut also intensified his attack on the dissidents, alleging that the rebel MPs had received financial inducements before being moved to Rajasthan.Meanwhile, Aaditya Thackeray described the developments as a ‘shocking example of dirty politics’ and said Maharashtra would not tolerate such actions.Calling the rebel MPs “shameless, ungrateful and corrupt”, he accused them of betraying party workers and voters who had helped them secure victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
