Uddhav Sena Says Shinde 'Merger' Claims Are Baseless, Warns Rebel MPs

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction on Monday sent letters to the six MPs who jumped to the rival Eknath Shinde-led group last month, and claimed to have 'merged' the two parties.

The letters, copies of which were accessed by NDTV, firmly dismissed any talk of that 'merger' and reminded the six they had been elected to the Lok Sabha on its symbol and mandate.

"It has come to our knowledge through reports in the public domain that you, along with certain other Members of Parliament are attempting to portray that there is a 'merger' of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) with the Shiv Sena headed by Eknath Shinde… at the outset, it is made clear that Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), being the original political party, has neither initiated, nor agreed to, nor permitted any merger with the Shiv Sena headed by Eknath Shinde."

That letter addressed to Mumbai (North East) Lok Sabha MP Sanjay Dina Patil. The other five were identically worded and addressed to Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Jadhav, Bhausaheb Wakchaure, Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar, and Omprakash Nimbalkar.

"This position," it stressed, "has been categorically affirmed by Uddhav Thackeray… (and) in the absence of any merger of the original political party, (there can be) no question of any merger of the legislature party… no such merger is possible or contemplated in law."

The six were also warned the Sena (UBT) had informed Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to disregard any "request seeking recognition of any merger - or of any separate group - made by any Member of Parliament elected on the symbol of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)".

Specifically, the letter, signed by Arvind Ganpat Sawant, the party's leader in the Lok Sabha, highlighted Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule, commonly called the anti-defection law.

The legislation highlights that individual legislators do not have the authority to independently effect a merger. They only have the option to accept or reject one initiated by the original party.

The letter followed rumours of a merger for a party battling for survival after two splits orchestrated by Shinde, the first in June 2022 that caused the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government and cost Uddhav Thackeray the chief minister's chair, and the second last month.