06/17/2026
The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) party has been hit by a major internal crisis as of June 17, 2026. Out of its 9 Lok Sabha Members of Parliament (MPs) elected on the party's Mashal (flaming torch) symbol, six rebel MPs have formally submitted a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to split and form a separate bloc. They plan to merge into the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction on June 19, 2026.
Senior leaders Sanjay Raut, Arvind Sawant, and Anil Desai remain loyal to Uddhav Thackeray and have heavily contested the defection, labeling it "Operation Tiger" and alleging corrupt buy-offs.
Visibly angry and emotional during the live broadcast, Sanjay Raut hurled explicit abuses and slang at the rebel MPs. When the cameras rolled, he demanded the media, "No, don't cut this. Keep it. These people are dishonest and dishonesty is in their blood."
Raut explicitly challenged the defecting lawmakers to resign from their parliamentary seats and face a fresh public mandate rather than running away. He noted that voters elected them strictly because of the party's Mashal symbol and the hard work of Uddhav Thackeray and late founder Balasaheb Thackeray.
