'Secret' Photos of Uddhav Sena Rebel MPs' Delhi meeting surface amid 'Operation Tiger' row

Fresh political controversy has erupted in Maharashtra after photographs allegedly showing six rebel MPs from the Shiv Sena (UBT) meeting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in Delhi before their defection to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena surfaced in the public domain. The images have reignited debate over the events leading up to the split, widely referred to as 'Operation Tiger'.

According to the report, the meeting took place on June 17, when the six MPs met Om Birla at his Delhi residence and submitted a letter seeking recognition as a separate group in the Lok Sabha. The rebel MPs reportedly argued that they opposed any move by Uddhav Thackeray to merge his faction with the Congress and had secured the numbers required to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law.

The newly surfaced photographs purportedly show the rebel MPs with Om Birla in the presence of Shrikant Shinde, MP and son of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and state minister Pratap Sarnaik. The images also reportedly include the MPs posing together in the Speaker's garden after completing the formalities.

The six MPs who joined the Shinde camp are Omraje Nimbalkar, Sanjay Dina Patil, Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Deshmukh, Nagesh Patil Ashtikar and Bhausaheb Wakchaure. Their defection significantly weakened the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction in the Lok Sabha and strengthened the Shinde-led Shiv Sena's position.

Following the defections, Eknath Shinde declared that 'Operation Tiger' had been completed successfully, describing the six MPs as "tigers" who had joined the "real Shiv Sena." He likened the political move to hitting a "sixer" after the 2022 rebellion that split the original Shiv Sena.

The emergence of the photographs has once again brought the spotlight on the political manoeuvring that preceded the latest split in Maharashtra's Shiv Sena, with the Uddhav and Shinde camps continuing to battle for political legitimacy.