This is deja vu time for Uddhav Thackeray.
Four years ago the son of Shiv Sena founder Bal Saheb Thackeray – the OG hardman of Maratha politics – could only watch as Eknath Shinde engineered a split that brought down the then-ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Thackeray, then the chief minister, raged but could do nothing; twelve of his MPs joined Shinde in claiming the Sena’s name and symbol – triggering an acrimonious legal battle that has still not been settled – and aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party, itself Thackeray’s ally-turned-rival. The result – the MVA government fell and Thackeray quit as chief minister.
This week that ghost is back to haunt what remains of his party.
At least six MPs from the Sena (UBT) – the name given to Thackeray’s faction after the June 2022 divide – have gone underground. Their phones have been switched off, sources told NDTV. The six are scheduled to meet Eknath Shinde and his son, Shrikant, at the latter’s Delhi residence later today, after which they are likely to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
