5 of 6 rebel Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs ‘moved out of Delhi’ ahead of parliamentary meeting, only 3 attend despite whip
MUMBAI: With Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut warning that action would be taken against MPs who fail to attend the party’s parliamentary meeting on Thursday morning, as a whip had been issued, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is said to have moved five of the six defecting MPs outside Delhi.Of the six MPs reportedly set to defect, only Omraje Nimbalkar is believed to be in Pune. The remaining five MPs were in Delhi but were reportedly shifted out of the national capital to ensure they did not attend the Shiv Sena (UBT) parliamentary party meeting.As expected, none of the six rebel MPs attended the meeting. Only three Lok Sabha MPs — Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai and Rajabhau Waze — were present at the parliamentary party meeting held at the Sena (UBT) office in Parliament. The same three MPs had also attended the party’s press conference in Delhi on Wednesday.“We have issued a whip to everyone. We will wait, and then action will start immediately,” Sanjay Raut said.The whip stated, “All Lok Sabha Members of Shiv Sena (UBT) are hereby informed that an important meeting of the Parliamentary Party regarding various issues concerning the party will be held on Thursday, June 18, 2026, at 11 am at Room No. 128-A, Parliament Building, New Delhi. All Lok Sabha members of Shiv Sena (UBT) are directed to remain present at the meeting.”“Lok Sabha leader of our party, Arvind Sawant, has issued a whip to all our MPs informing them that an important meeting is being held at our Parliament office in Delhi. A few issues need to be discussed. This three-line whip has been issued. We will begin our meeting at 11 am today. I don’t know how many MPs have reached Delhi so far. But we have a procedure in the parliamentary party and legislative party to issue a whip. This has been done,” Raut said.On rumours of attempts to engineer a split in the party, Raut said, “They feel that they have done this once. I would tell them, do it and show us. Aapko nahi todenge na toh hamare baap ka naam nahi batayenge. Hamare baap ka naam Balasaheb Thackeray hai. Are you mocking democracy? Do you have so much money? Who are you threatening with the ED and CBI? Us? We have already been to jail and we are ready to go to jail again. But I will go to jail only after teaching you a lesson.“
