Dharashiv | In a setback for the Shiv Sena (UBT), party MP Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar, one of the six dissidents, on Sunday said he will join the Shiv Sena, headed by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Nimbalkar arrived in Dharashiv from Pune in the afternoon and interacted with his supporters.
He cited the Sena (UBT)'s defeat in the local body elections and his inability to do much for the people because of being in opposition.
"We lost because we were not in power. As I am not part of the government, I couldn't do much for the people in the last two years. Considering these factors, I have decided to join Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde. He stood with us. I have interacted with Shinde and CM Fadnavis.
Nimbalkar also referred to the acquittal of former state home minister Padamsinh Patil in the murder case of his father, Pawanraje Nimbalkar.
"They (Shinde and Fadnavis) made me speak with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. I requested him to do justice for us. Later, Shinde also said that the CBI will file an appeal. We don't want a favour, but I have demanded that the verdict should be based on merit," he told reporters.
Mumbai | Amid the buzz over a split in the ranks of Lok Sabha MPs of Shiv Sena (UBT) through “Operation Tiger”, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the "operation" has been successful.
His deputy and Shiv Sena president Eknath Shinde said he never leaves an operation incomplete.
Responding to questions over the "Operation Tiger" aimed at securing defections from the Uddhav Thackeray camp, Fadnavis said, "The operation has been successful, and the body is in very good health. There is no need for anyone to worry. Those who need to introspect should do so."
, Jun 21 (PTI) Shinde, who addressed a joint news conference with Fadnavis, said he didn't conduct incomplete operations.
"Whenever I undertake an operation, I complete it fully. We have already shown it," he said.
When asked about the status of Operation Tiger, Shinde said, "You will get breaking news soon. The MPs are abused, and then you (Thackeray camp) want them (back). There is a chemical locha."
MPs Sanjay Dina Patil, Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Jadhav, Bhausaheb Wakchaure, Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar and Nimbalkar skipped the Sena (UBT) parliamentary party meeting in Delhi on June 17, fuelling speculation that they were on their way to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
The Sena (UBT) has nine Lok Sabha members, and the rebel bloc needs at least six MPs -- two-thirds of the total strength -- to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law.
On Sunday, at least two of the six rebel MPs belonging to the Sena (UBT) confirmed they crossed over to the Shinde camp.
Fadnavis said the Shiv Sena, led by Shinde, is carrying forward the legacy of the party founder Bal Thackeray.
"Shiv Sena is not merely a political party. It is Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideology. It is not a legacy of property, but a legacy of ideas. The moment some people abandoned those ideas, those who believed in them chose a different path.
"All those people came together under the leadership of Eknath Shinde to keep Shiv Sena alive and carry forward that ideological legacy. Workers and public representatives who believe in those ideas are continuously coming together under his leadership," the chief minister said.
He advised Uddhav Thackeray to introspect.
"Uddhav ji did not introspect, and this is the consequence. There is no doubt in anyone's mind now that the Shiv Sena being run by Eknath Shinde is the real Shiv Sena. Balasaheb's bow-and-arrow symbol is with Eknath Shinde, and he is carrying forward Balasaheb's ideology," Fadnavis added.
When asked about the removal of several beneficiaries from the Ladki Bahin scheme, Fadnavis said the initiative was initially launched on the basis of self-certification.
"Whatever information people provided, we accepted as true and extended the benefits. However, after collecting data from the Income Tax Department, the RTO and other databases, we found that some beneficiaries were outside the eligibility criteria," he said.
He said the scrutiny showed that some claimants of the monthly financial assistance for women are income-tax payers.
"While some beneficiaries own four-wheelers. In certain cases, six to seven members had availed the benefit in a single household, despite the rule permitting only two women from a family," the chief minister added.
He said a scheme has to be examined to check whether the prescribed norms are being followed.
"The CAG audits these schemes, and if they are found to be operating beyond the norms, the state government is pulled up. Only those who were outside the eligibility criteria have been stopped from receiving benefits," Fadnavis added.
He asserted that those who are eligible and have completed KYC have not missed a single instalment.
"Their payments are being credited regularly every month," he added.
Fadnavis rejected the criticism of the state government's farm loan waiver scheme and the imposition of certain preconditions.
"The purpose of a farm loan waiver is to ensure that farmers who have become ineligible for fresh credit become eligible again. At the same time, a farmer who repays loans regularly should not feel that repaying was a mistake and that defaulting would have benefited him," he said.
Fadnavis added that the eligibility conditions are actually better and simpler than those under the loan waiver schemes implemented by the erstwhile UPA-led governments.
"We are trying to ensure that the banking system does not suffer any adverse impact while extending benefits to farmers," he added.
Mumbai | Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday asserted that the Sena led by him is the only Shiv Sena, hitting back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his remark that the only Shiv Sena is the one headed by Eknath Shinde.
He was addressing party workers in Bhandup, which falls under rebel Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Patil's Mumbai North-East Lok Sabha constituency.
Thackeray said the undivided Shiv Sena, founded by his father Bal Thackeay, spent 30 years fighting the Congress, but it never tried to steal or finish the party “the way the BJP had done”.
“Shiv Sena, headed by me, is the only Shiv Sena,” Thackeray said.
On Saturday, Shah had said in Kolhapur that earlier people had to refer to the Shinde-led faction separately, but “now no faction remains, and there is only one Shiv Sena, which is headed by Eknath Shinde”.
Thackeray claimed that the BJP had little political significance earlier and that it was the undivided Shiv Sena that helped the party grow.
Amid the buzz of a rebellion in Sena (UBT), Thackeray said he was not demoralised.