Shiv Sena's 60th foundation day celebrations unfolded amid fresh rebellion buzz, competing claims over Bal Thackeray's legacy, and growing questions over the future of the two rival factions that emerged from the party's split in 2022.
The Diamond Jubilee celebrations assume added significance this year against the backdrop of 'Operation Tiger', a term used for speculation that several MPs from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) are in touch with the Eknath Shinde camp and could join the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Sena (UBT) MPs Sanjay Dina Patil, Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Jadhav, Bhausaheb Wakchaure, Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar, and Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar are likely to cross over to the Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray launched a sharp attack on rebel MPs, calling them 'shameless, ungrateful, and corrupt individuals' who had betrayed those who helped them win in 2024.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut claimed there was disagreement among the party's dissident MPs over who among them would become a Union minister after switching sides.
Both factions invoked Bal Thackeray's legacy, with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut describing the Uddhav Thackeray-led outfit as the 'real Shiv Sena'.
Political observers have pointed to the contrasting fortunes of the two camps, with the Shiv Sena (UBT) remaining the largest opposition party in the Maharashtra Assembly with 20 MLAs, while the Shinde-led Sena has nearly three times as many legislators.
