Mumbai: The Shiv Sena (UBT) has issued a whip to its MPs to attend a meeting in New Delhi to discuss "important issues", amid the speculation of an imminent rebellion in the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, sources said on Wednesday.
The party can initiate disqualification proceedings against those who skip the meeting, they said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) is staring at a crisis, with "six to seven" of its nine Lok Sabha MPs inclined to switch to the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and camping in the national capital, sources said on Tuesday.
"Six to seven MPs are likely to switch sides," a leader of the Shinde camp told PTI, claiming that the move was linked to a possible elevation in the role of Aditya Thackeray, son of Uddhav Thackeray, who currently heads the party's youth wing.
The leader claimed that the MPs likely to make the switch found the prospect of Aditya's further elevation within Shiv Sena (UBT) unacceptable.
As rebellion buzz grew, Shiv Sena (UBT) party MP Arvind Sawant has urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to not to grant recognition to any "breakaway" group claiming to represent the party.
Sawant claimed the authority to determine leadership within the House, to appoint the whip, and to issue directions regarding legislative conduct flows from the political party. "The legislature party does not possess an independent source of authority divorced from the political party," he said in a letter to Speaker Birla late Tuesday night.
Notably, the party had issued a similar whip when 39 MLAs led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde rebelled against the Sena leadership in 2022, following which disqualification proceedings were initiated against them.
