Mumbai, 18 June (HS): The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena

(UBT) will conduct a high-stakes meeting of its MPs today, amid growing

suspicion of a new split within the party, with reports indicating that a group

of renegade MPs planning to merge with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath

Shinde's Shiv Sena. The emergency meeting comes a day after rumors emerged that

a dissident faction had claimed the backing of six of the party's nine Lok

Sabha MPs and contacted Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, sparking a new political

storm in Maharashtra. In order to avert a recurrence of the 2022 Shinde mutiny,

the Uddhav camp has invited all nine of its MPs to a meeting in Delhi at 11

a.m. and issued a three-line whip instructing them to attend in person.

Party officials have warned that any MP who does not show up

may face disciplinary action.

The high-stakes conference is anticipated to decide whether Uddhav Thackeray

maintains control of his parliamentary party or risks another catastrophic

split, four years after Shinde's 2022 revolt brought down the Maha Vikas Aghadi

regime. According to reports, a number of rebel Sena (UBT) MPs met informally

with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday and claimed to have the backing of

six of the party's nine MPs — the critical two-thirds threshold necessary to

escape disqualification under the anti-defection statute. The development

occurred amid what Shiv Sena insiders characterized as a painstakingly planned

Operation Tiger, which was purportedly directed by Eknath Shinde

while he was in Delhi.

According to the sources, the operation went smoothly, but

the formal induction of the MPs has been purposefully delayed by two to three

days while legal and technological matters are reviewed. No public declaration

will be made immediately, and the party aims to closely observe the Uddhav

Sena's legal strategy before taking the next move, they claimed. A formal

announcement of any crossing is now expected around June 20 or 21, according to

sources. According to the same sources, the six MPs have been relocated from

Delhi and are being kept out of public view till the legal process is

concluded.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi