Aaditya Thackeray Slams Rebel Lawmakers Following Defection, Calls Them Greedy and Shameless

Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray hit out at the dissident lawmakers on Monday, June 22, 2026, slamming them on X for abandoning their electoral mandate out of greed. Thackeray charged that the dissidents' loyalty and reputation were up for sale, while accusing the government of bias and misusing public funds for political purposes.

Six of nine Shiv Sena (UBT) Lok Sabha MPs have rebelled, dealing a major blow to party chief Uddhav Thackeray and raising fresh questions about his ability to hold the party together for future political battles.

The criticism followed Sunday's confirmation by Nagesh Patil Ashtikar and Omprakash Rajenimbalkar that they had crossed over to the ruling Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

"The voters voted against the NDA candidates and for INDIA in your constituencies and for all it stands for. Just accept that your greed got you to ditch all of it overnight, shamelessly."

The Shiv Sena Rebels

The four other rebel MPs are Sanjay Dina Patil of Mumbai North East, Sanjay Deshmukh of Yavatmal-Washim, Sanjay Jadhav of Parbhani, and Bhausaheb Wakchaure of Shirdi.

All six rebel MPs skipped a crucial parliamentary party meeting in Delhi on June 17, 2026. Following their absence, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leadership initiated disciplinary action and issued show-cause notices to the six lawmakers.

The six rebel MPs constitute the exact two-thirds majority required to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law. The group met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on June 17, 2026, and submitted a formal letter seeking recognition as a separate parliamentary group and merging with the Shinde faction.

Thackeray highlighted the opposition alliance's role in securing the defectors' recent electoral victories.

"All of the ones that are jumping over now were elected on the platforms of the MVA and the INDIA, against the NDA. All of them had leaders from Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP) campaigning for them..." Thackeray said.

Operation Tiger

Rebel MPs Ashtikar and Rajenimbalkar cited a severe lack of development funds as a primary reason for switching sides.

Following the defections, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde officially declared "Operation Tiger" a success, The Hindu reported.

The operation was reportedly under works soon after the results of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly Elections. Now, with the ruling NDA requiring numbers to pass the delimitation bill in the parliament, the operation was sped up.

With the Shiv Sena rebels joining the breakaway TMC leaders the ruling alliance is slowly creeping towards the two-thirds mark in the Lok Sabha that they need to get the bill through.

(With Inputs from PTI)