“Thackeray is the breath of Maharashtra!” Uddhav Thackeray’s faction announced Shiv Sena (UBT) The sixtieth foundation day of our parent party was celebrated on social media on Friday (June 19, 2026). Meanwhile, its rival faction, which has inherited the party’s name and its iconic ‘bow and arrow’ symbol, shared a photo of its leader – Eknath Shinde – and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, declaring ‘the unbreakable bond of speeches, ideology, Hindutva, tradition and Shiv Sena’.
Both the factions organize ‘Dussehra Melawa’ every year to declare themselves the ‘real’ Shiv Sena, outline the future agenda of the party and take aim at each other. While the Election Commission granted the party’s name and symbol to Mr Shinde, and President Rahul Narvekar recognized it as the ‘real’ Shiv Sena, the Supreme Court has not yet decided on Mr Thackeray’s challenge to both these decisions. The party that started in 1966 to unite the disillusioned ‘Marathi manoos’ is at its weakest today as Shiv Sena (UBT) faces another rebellion by six of its nine Lok Sabha MPs.
Maharashtra: From Congress rule to coalition state (1947–2024)
Voice of ‘Marathi Manoos’
Inspired by the plight of Marathi residents in Mumbai, cartoonist-turned-politician Bal Keshav Thackeray, also known as Balasaheb, founded Shiv Sena on June 19, 1966. Named as ‘Shivaji Maharaj’s Army’, Shiv Sena’s initial targets were South Indians from Mumbai as Mr Thackeray claimed that local Marathi-speaking citizens were being discriminated against for jobs in Mumbai. Focusing on discontent among Mumbai’s middle class over falling wages, rising land and housing prices, and migration of South Indians, the Sena flourished under the tacit support of the Congress as it expanded its ideology from Marathi pride to Hindutva.
Over the years, Chhagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane, Raj Thackeray and Eknath Shinde have often divided the Shiv Sena by rebelling against Balasaheb and Uddhav Thackeray’s control over the Sena. All the above leaders have rebelled again, further reducing the power of the army.
Bhujbal – always rebellious Shiv Sainik
The first crack in the Sena’s armor appeared on December 6, 1991, when veteran Sena leader and former Mumbai mayor Chhagan Bhujbal rebelled along with 20 MLAs and declared themselves a separate faction in the Maharashtra Assembly. Nominated Shiv Sena (B), Mr Bhujbal and twelve other Sena MLAs later merged with the Congress (O), citing the Sena’s indifference towards the OBC community.
NCP chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar with Chhagan Bhujbal during a press conference after the NCP meeting in Mumbai in 2011. Photo courtesy: PTI
Mr Bhujbal later followed Sharad Pawar as the Maratha strongman broke away from the Congress in 1999 to form the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). In his third rebellion in 2023, Mr Bhujbal broke ties with the senior Pawar and joined hands with his nephew Ajit Pawar to break the NCP into two factions. He is currently the Minister of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection in the Devendra Fadnavis government.
Narayan Rane and Thackeray
In 2005, two rebellions occurred within a matter of months that shook the foundation of the military. Narayan Rane, a ‘branch chief’ who joined the Sena in 1999 to become chief minister, started publicly criticizing Balasaheb’s potential successor, Mr Uddhav. By 2005, Mr. Rane along with Sanjay Nirupam left the party citing nepotism and corruption and joined the Congress. He also tried to divide Shiv Sena by luring away 40 of its MLAs, but his efforts were not successful. Since then, Mr Rane has left the Congress, moved to the BJP, remained a staunch critic of Mr Uddhav, and retained his stronghold in Ratnagiri – a former Army stronghold.
Mr Rane’s departure provided fertile ground for Balasaheb’s flamboyant nephew – Raj Thackeray to make an exit. The young Thackeray’s ambitions, touted as a potential successor, were crushed in 2003, when Mr Uddhav was formally elected as national working president at the party’s Mahabaleshwar conference. With Mr Uddhav Thackeray sidelining his supporters and denying him tickets and party posts in the civic elections, Mr Raj wrote to his uncle that he was disillusioned with Mr Uddhav’s leadership and had left the party.
In this file photo, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray is seen with his son Uddhav Thackeray and nephew and MNS chief Raj Thackeray at a press conference in Mumbai on July 3, 2005. | Photo courtesy: PTI
Repeated attempts were made by the Sena founder to broker a reconciliation between the warring cousins, including offering Mr Raj the charge of Nashik, Pune and Konkan, but it failed. On 19 March 2006, Mr Raj formed the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), and chose the tricolor (blue, saffron and green) flag and railway engine as its logo. Initially, the MNS made a dent in Thackeray’s votes and captured several seats in the civic and state elections in the Mumbai region. Recently, both the cousins ​​buried their 20-year-old enmity to field a joint Shiv Sena-MNS bid for the Mumbai civic polls in January 2026. However, his attempt to retain the Marathi/Thackeray vote failed as the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance ended Shiv Sena’s hegemony in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
Shinde took over the army
In 2019, Shiv Sena and BJP formally ended their 35-year alliance after the BJP refused to accept the Sena’s demand for 50:50 power-sharing terms – equal division in departments and shared CM tenure. An angry Mr Uddhav formed an unexpected alliance with his party’s ideological rivals – the Congress and the NCP – to form the first Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on December 30, 2019. The two-year MVA tenure was marked by fights between the coalition partners over Hindutva, Savarkar, secularism, minority rights and dissent among the cadres.
In 2022, veteran Army Minister Eknath Shinde defected along with 37 other MLAs, claiming that their faction was the ‘real’ Shiv Sena. Mr Shinde, holed up in a hotel in Guwahati, began talks with the BJP seeking an alliance and claiming “I felt compelled to rebel after seeing Bal Thackeray’s ideology compromised”. Falling short of the support of just 15 MLAs, Mr Uddhav resigned as chief minister and Mr Shinde was sworn in as deputy chief minister with Mr Fadnavis on June 30, 2022. Since then, Mr Shinde has remained in the Mahayuti alliance, and has been delivering electoral results – winning seven seats in the Lok Sabha, 57 seats in the Assembly and more than 1,300 seats in municipal and nagar panchayat elections this year.
Mumbai, November 23 (ANI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde along with Deputy CMs Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis addressed a press conference at Varsha Bungalow in Mumbai as the grand alliance is set to form the government in the state. Photo Credit: ANI
operation tiger
It is rumored that six of the remaining nine Lok Sabha MPs of Shiv Sena (UBT) are planning to defect from the party to join hands with Mr Shinde’s forces. Six MPs from the Sena (UBT), popularly known as ‘Operation Tiger’ – Sanjay Dina Patil, Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Jadhav, Bhausaheb Wakchore, Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar and Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar are likely to ‘declare’ themselves as a separate group and later join Shiv Sena. All six MLAs did not attend the Army (UBT) Parliamentary Party meeting convened in New Delhi on June 18, 2026.
Sanjay Raut, the lone Rajya Sabha MP from the Sena (UBT), claimed that ₹50 crore has been offered to MPs to switch allegiance. While four have reportedly signed the letter to the Speaker, two leaders Omraje Nimbalkar and Sanjay Dina Patil have not yet come out in denial. Mr Raut claimed Mr Nimbalkar was allegedly being pressurized because of the court’s verdict related to the murder of his father Pawanraje Nimbalkar. Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has already dismissed the six MPs, calling them ‘shameless, ungrateful and corrupt’ persons, while Mr Nimbalkar claimed he was left with ‘no other option’ as the paucity of funds made it difficult to function effectively.
published – June 19, 2026 09:16 PM IST
