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New Delhi18 July. Uddhav Thackeray got a big blow just ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, when Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday approved the merger of six rebel Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs into the Shiv Sena faction led by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.

This decision gives formal approval to the defection of MPs under the anti-defection law. The decision comes two days ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament scheduled from July 20, in which the BJP-led NDA government wants to increase its numbers in the Lok Sabha to pass the women’s reservation and delimitation bills.

This is Shiv Sena (UBT’s rebel MP

These six rebel MPs of Shiv Sena (UBT) are Sanjay Dina Patil from Mumbai North-East, Omprakash Rajenimbalkar from Dharashiv, Sanjay Deshmukh from Yavatmal-Washim, Sanjay Jadhav from Parbhani, Bhausaheb Wakchore from Shirdi and Nagesh Patil Ashtikar from Hingoli, who had joined the ruling Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde on June 22.

Shinde Sena’s strength in Lok Sabha increased to 13

With this approval of the Speaker, these six MPs have got formal recognition as members of Shinde-led Shiv Sena in the Lok Sabha, which is another important development in the long-running internal schism in the party. With this, the number of MPs of Shinde faction in the Lok Sabha has increased to 13.

If seen, this development is a new turn in the long-running power struggle between the factions of Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray. Since the split of the party in 2022, both the factions have been fighting several political and legal battles over Shiv Sena’s leadership, organizational control and electoral identity.

Separate seating arrangement for 20 MPs who separated from TMC

In the same sequence, the Lok Sabha Speaker also approved the arrangement of separate sitting for 20 MPs who broke away from Trinamool Congress (TMC) to form ‘Nationalist Citizen Party of India’ (NCPI), thereby formally recognizing the separate identity of this group in the House.