Big Jolt to Uddhav Thackeray,Six MPs now with Shinde’s camp

Six out of nine Lok Sabha MPs from Team Uddhav Thackeray joined Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Mumbai on Monday evening, ending days of speculation.

Omraje Nimbalkar (Dharashiv), Sanjay Dina Patil (Mumbai North-East), Sanjay Jadhav (Parbhani), Sanjay Deshmukh (Yavatmal-Washim),Nagesh Patil Ashtikar (Hingoli), Bhausaheb Vakchaure (Shirdi) are the rebel MPs.

“The six MPs are here. They have all now joined the real Shiv Sena family. I welcome them to the real Shiv Sena family,” Shinde, who led the 2022 rebellion leading to a split in the Shiv Sena, said.

“Operation Tiger”, a code word for getting the MLAs to cross over to the Shiv Sena, is now complete and successful, the Deputy Chief Minister declared, referring to the six defected MPs as ‘Dhurandhars’ who are connected to ground.(UPDATED ON 22ND JUNE 2026)