From pillars to rebels: The six MPs ready to walk out on Uddhav

As Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) faces rumours of yet another split in its ranks, the focus has shifted to six of its nine MPs who are likely to break away. The six who were not present at a meeting of the Sena (UBT)’s parliamentary party in Delhi on Thursday are Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Deshmukh, Nagesh Patil Ashtikar, Bhausaheb Wakchaure, Sanjay Dina Patil, and Omraje Nimbalkar.

These MPs had helped Uddhav hold the ground against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when many had expected the Sena (UBT) to struggle following the split in the Shiv Sena in 2022 that had left it organisationally depleted.

Sanjay Jadhav

Sanjay Jadhav, 56, is the three-term Sena UBT MP from Parbhani, who has been one of the loyalists of the party and the Thackerays.

What makes Jadhav’s defection a significant setback for the Sena UBT is the point that he remained with Uddhav even after several of the party MPs moved towards the Shinde Sena in the months following the June 2022 split caused by Shinde’s revolt.

Known as Bandu Jadhav in Marathwada politics, Sanjay Jadhav has spent his entire political career in the undivided Sena. He had been among a few senior Sena (UBT) leaders who never switched their political allegiances earlier.

He began working in the party organisation in Parbhani in the early 1990s when the Sena was expanding in Marathwada, gradually building his position in the district party unit.

He entered electoral politics in 2004 when the Sena fielded him from the Parbhani Assembly constituency. He won the seat and also retained it in 2009. He was fielded from the Parbhani Lok Sabha constituency in the 2014 elections, which he clinched. Since then, he won the Parbhani Lok Sabha seat for two more terms in 2019 and 2024.

For decades, Parbhani has remained one of the Sena’s strongholds in Marathwada and has been among the party’s long-standing bases outside Mumbai. After the 2022 split, while several districts saw local Sena leaders and office-bearers switch to the Shinde camp, Parbhani remained among the few districts where the party unit stood by Uddhav.

Over the years, Jadhav has built his own support base among old Sena workers and sections of Maratha and rural voters in Parbhani, where the party has traditionally been strong.

The speculation around Jadhav’s defection had recently intensified after he said at a public programme in Parbhani: “Aaj tumchyasobat aahe, udya kay sangta yet nahi (I am with you today, cannot say about tomorrow).”

His remarks immediately triggered chatter in political circles as it came amid reports of the Sena (UBT) staring at a split.

At the local Sena (UBT) level, there has also been discontent among several party workers after recent organisational changes, with Jadhav also expressing his dissatisfaction over it.

Sanjay Deshmukh

Sanjay Deshmukh, 58, is the first-time MP from the Yavatmal-Washim Lok Sabha seat. He had triggered speculation about his bid for defection after he met Union Minister and Shinde Sena leader Prataprao Jadhav barely a day after skipping the meeting of the MPs convened by Uddhav at his residence in Mumbai on Sunday.

Unlike Sanjay Jadhav, Deshmukh has moved across different parties during his political innings. Known as Sanjay bhau in Yavatmal politics, he had started his career with the undivided Shiv Sena under Bal Thackeray and had worked as the Yavatmal district party chief in 1998.

In 1999, following differences with the Sena leadership, he had left the party and contested the then Assembly election from Digras as an Independent candidate, registering his first win. He also became the minister of state for sports in the then Vilasrao Deshmukh-led Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra.

Subsequently, Deshmukh was associated with the Congress for several years. He joined the BJP in 2017, later fought elections again as an Independent after leaving the BJP, and returned to the Uddhav Sena before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Uddhav Sena then fielded him from Yavatmal-Washim, where he defeated Rajshree Patil of the Shinde Sena to win his first Lok Sabha election.

Deshmukh hails from Chicholi village in Digras. He belongs to a farming family. Over the years, he has remained active in the Digras-Darwha belt through educational institutions and local organisations and has built a strong network in the region.

For the Sena (UBT), Deshmukh’s switch would be a blow as he is among the few MPs who helped the party win a Lok Sabha seat in Vidarbha after the 2022 split. Unlike several other Sena leaders, Deshmukh has, however, been a political turncoat over the last few decades.

Nagesh Patil Ashtikar

Nagesh Patil Ashtikar, 49, is the first-time Lok Sabha MP from Hingoli. He has remained with the Sena throughout his political career, never switching loyalties earlier.

Known as Nagesh Patil Ashtikar in Marathwada politics, he hails from Hadgaon in Nanded district. He started his political journey through the cooperative sector. In 2009, he was elected chairman of the Hadgaon Agricultural Produce Market Committee, which marked his first major position.

Ashtikar entered electoral politics on the Sena ticket and was appointed Hadgaon taluka chief in 2013. In the 2014 Assembly elections, the party fielded him from the Hadgaon constituency, where he won his first election as an MLA.

He became director of the Nanded District Central Cooperative Bank in 2015. However, in 2019, he lost the Assembly election, but remained active in the party.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Sena (UBT) fielded him from Hingoli, where he defeated Baburao Kadam Kohlikar of the Shinde Sena by over one lakh votes to mark his first parliamentary poll win.

His name had first figured among possible Sena (UBT) rebels in April this year after he attended a dinner hosted in Delhi by Union Minister Prataprao Jadhav along with some of his party MPs. The speculation was reinforced Sunday when he skipped the meeting held by Uddhav.

On Monday, Ashtikar, however, held a press conference in Nanded to deny reports about his bid to leave the party. He claimed that he was with Uddhav and that there was no question of switching sides. Explaining his absence from the Sunday meeting, he said he was busy with the ongoing Nanded Legislative Council election, where his son Krishna Patil is in the fray, and that he had already informed Uddhav about it. He also said “baseless rumours” about him leaving the Sena had been circulating for the last two years.

Bhausaheb Rajaram Wakchaure

Bhausaheb Rajaram Wakchaure, 74, is a second-term Lok Sabha MP from Shirdi in Ahilya Nagar, who has switched loyalties a few times in his career, returning to the Uddhav Sena only months before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

A senior leader from Ahilya Nagar district, Wakchaure first entered the Lok Sabha in 2009 when the undivided Sena fielded him from the newly created Shirdi constituency. He defeated the RPI’s Ramdas Athawale to become the constituency’s first MP after delimitation.

Ahead of the 2014 elections, Wakchaure’s relations with the Sena leadership had turned sour over uncertainty about his renomination from Shirdi. He then defected to the Congress. Later, he also quit the Congress and became close to some BJP leaders, lying low politically for several years.

In August 2023, Wakchaure returned to the Uddhav Sena at a time when the party was looking for strong candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In the 2024 polls, the Sena (UBT) fielded him from Shirdi, where he defeated the Shinde Sena’s sitting MP Sadashiv Lokhande to return to Parliament for a second term.

His name surfaced among the Sena (UBT) rebels amid reports about attempts to engineer defections in the party under “Operation Tiger”. He then publicly denied it, claiming that he had neither met Shinde nor had any information about “Operation Tiger”.

Sanjay Dina Patil

Sanjay Dina Patil, 57, is a second-term Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai North East. He was among the Sena (UBT) leaders who have so far strongly denied reports of any move against Uddhav.

Unlike some of the other rebels, Patil did not begin his political career in the Sena and joined the party only in 2019 after doing most of his stint in the NCP.

Patil comes from a political family in Mumbai. His father Dina Bama Patil was a Congress MLA from Mulund and had remained a known political face in the Bhandup-Mulund belt. Sanjay Dina Patil himself started his political innings through student politics before gradually emerging through the Congress-NCP ranks in Mumbai.

He entered electoral politics in 2004 when he was elected as an NCP MLA from Bhandup Assembly constituency. In 2009, the NCP fielded him from the Mumbai North East Lok Sabha constituency where he defeated senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat to enter Parliament.

In the next two Lok Sabha elections, Patil suffered defeats. In 2014, he lost to BJP leader Kirit Somaiya and in 2019 lost again from the same seat. He switched to the Sena in October 2019.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Uddhav Sena fielded him from Mumbai North East, where he defeated the BJP’s Mihir Kotecha.

Patil’s family is also active in the Sena (UBT)’s Mumbai politics. His wife is an elected party corporator in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Till late Tuesday night, Patil was responding to calls from journalists and claiming to them that he was with Uddhav and had no plans to leave the party. He also said no pressure had been put on him.

One of the controversies linked to Patil dates back to 2016 when Mumbai Police booked him over allegations that he fired some pistol rounds during a fight in Deonar.

For the Sena (UBT), Patil has been one of the important party faces in Mumbai. His victory in Mumbai North East against the BJP in 2024 had come at a time when the Uddhav Sena was trying to hold its ground in the city after the 2022 split.

Omraje Nimbalkar

Omraje Nimbalkar, 42, is a second-term Lok Sabha MP from the Osmanabad constituency, who was considered close to Uddhav. He has also spent his entire career in the Sena and has remained with the Uddhav Sena even after the 2022 split.

Omraje comes from a political family in Dharashiv district. He is the son of late Pawanraje Nimbalkar, whose murder in 2006 had triggered a political storm in the state. His uncle is former NCP leader Padmasinh Patil, with BJP leader Ranajagjitsinh Patil being his cousin.

He entered electoral politics in 2009 when the Sena fielded him from the Osmanabad Assembly constituency, where he won his first election as MLA. In 2014, he lost the Assembly election but remained with the party.

In 2019, the Sena fielded him from the Osmanabad Lok Sabha seat, where he won. In 2024, the Sena (UBT) fielded him again from the same seat, which he bagged for a second term, defeating the NCP’s candidate.

Since entering Parliament, Omraje has been among the younger party MPs who have remained proactive both in his constituency and in Parliament. He has also been close to Uddhav and his son Aaditya Thackeray.

His name came up in the list of possible Sena (UBT) rebel MPs after reports emerged that he had travelled from Pune to Delhi in the wee hours of Wednesday.

For the Sena (UBT), Omraje’s exit would be a setback as he has been known as a staunch loyalist of the party as well as the Thackerays.