Rs 50 Crore, private jets: Sanjay Rauts big charge amid MPs split from Shiv Sena(UBT) buzz

PTC News Desk: Amid growing speculation of a split in the Shiv Sena (UBT) in Parliament, senior leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday claimed that some party MPs were being offered huge amounts of money to leave the party and join another faction.

According to reports, only three of the party's nine Lok Sabha MPs — Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai, and Rajabhau Waje — are firmly backing Uddhav Thackeray.

To address the situation, Arvind Sawant, the party's parliamentary leader, has issued a whip directing all nine MPs to attend a meeting scheduled for Thursday at 11 am.

Speaking to the media, Raut said that MPs elected on the party symbol have no right to betray the party. He warned that action could be taken against those who fail to attend the meeting.

Raut also reminded the MPs that they were elected because of the leadership and legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray, and said voters would not forgive them if they switched sides.

The alleged poaching effort, referred to as "Operation Tiger," reportedly intensified after only four of the nine Sena (UBT) MPs attended a meeting called by Uddhav Thackeray at his Mumbai residence earlier this week.

Raut claimed that two or three MPs are in contact with the faction led by Eknath Shinde.

Meanwhile, the rebel MPs are expected to meet Om Birla soon. However, sources say they may not yet have enough numbers to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law. Since Sena (UBT) has nine MPs in the Lok Sabha, at least six MPs would need to support a split for the rebels to meet the required threshold. Sources also indicated that efforts to win over more MPs are still ongoing.