Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Member of Legislative Council (MLC), who used to represent the Worli assembly constituency as its MLA, formally issued a denial here on Wednesday that he too plans to defect to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, though sources said that he has already received an offer from Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.
Uddhav-led Sena MLC Sunil Shinde, who is known to be influential in Worli told media persons here on Wednesday, “I have no plans to leave my party. It is impossible to leave my party. These are all baseless rumours being spread by those who do not like me”.
Meanwhile, sources said that Uddhav-led Sena MLC Sunil Shinde as well as Uddhav-led Sena MLA Varun Sardesai who represents the Bandra East assembly constituency have already received offers from Deputy CM Eknath Shinde to defect and join his Shiv Sena.
As things stand, Uddhav-led Sena leader and Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aditya Thackeray is the MLA representing Worli assembly constituency, after the previous Worli MLA Sunil Shinde was denied a ticket for his candidature by Uddhav Thackeray.
Although Sunil Shinde was later politically rehabilitated by being sent to the Legislative Council, sources said that he may not be entirely happy with the arrangement since he was made to vacate Worli though he was the one who actually built up the Sena presence in the Worli assembly constituency. Therefore, there is a chance that like Sachin Ahir, Uddhav-led Sena MLC Sunil Shinde too may choose to defect and join the Eknath Shinde-led Sena, sources said.
Sunil Shinde was sent to the Legislative Council by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena from the local body constituency and his membership term is scheduled to end on January 1, 2028. Going strictly by numbers, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena no longer has the political strength to send Sunil Shinde back to the Legislative Council again. This is another factor which could motivate Uddhav-led Sena MLC Sunil Shinde to defect and join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in order to protect his political future, sources said.
After Sunil Shinde defects and joins the Eknath Shinde-led Sena, there is also a chance that Deputy CM Eknath Shinde might decide to field Sunil Shinde against Aaditya Thackeray from Worli, since Sunil Shinde is known to be more popular in Worli than Aaditya Thackeray, sources said.
According to sources, both MLC Sunil Shinde and MLA Varun Sardesai were expected to issue denials after political speculation and whispers about their chances to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena began and it has already been factored in by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.
However, sources said that as per Deputy Chief Minister Shinde’s calculations to execute ‘Operation Tiger-3’, though Uddhav-led Sena MLA Varun Sardesai presently represents Bandra East (Kherwadi), Sardesai could be made to contest elections on a Shinde-led Sena ticket from a new assembly constituency to be formed in Dombivali, in the neighbouring Thane district.
Sources said that after the expected reorganisation of constituencies, there is a possibility of significant changes in the composition and the number of seats in the Lok Sabha as well the Maharashtra legislative assembly.
According to sources, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde is in constant touch with Uddhav-led Sena MLA Varun Sardesai and has been able to successfully convince Sardesai that after the formation of a new assembly constituency in Dombivali, his political future will be assured, and it makes no sense to stay on in the Uddhav-led Sena whose political strength has declined substantially. Sources also said that Uddhav-led Sena MLA Varun Sardesai has been made to understand that he cannot win from the Mahim assembly constituency again.
According to sources, Sachin Ahir had moved from the Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) to the Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad). His term of Legislative Council membership is scheduled to end on July 7, 2028. Since the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has only 20 MLAs, Sachin Ahir decided to defect and join the Eknath Shinde-led Sena after he was convinced that he would not be able to be elected to the Legislative Council again, due to which he felt his political future was in danger.
Sources said that Sachin Ahir played a major role in convincing Uddhav-led MP Sanjay Dina Patil, who represented North East Mumbai to defect to the Eknath Shinde-led Sena. Also, it is Sachin Ahir who has trained as well as mentored Uddhav-led Sena’s Manoj Pandurang Jamsutkar, who represents the Byculla assembly constituency at present. Hence, there is a good chance that Manoj Jamsutkar too may follow in his mentor Sachin Ahir’s footsteps and defect to the Eknath Shinde-led Sena, as part of ‘Operation Tiger-3’, sources said.