Uddhav Thackeray Shiv Sena Ubt Meeting Absent

As the Shiv Sena (UBT) emerges from the exit of six MPs, who joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Monday, the absence of four legislators from the meeting called by party chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on Monday has yet again raised eyebrows.

Sena (UBT) leaders, however, claimed the absence was not unusual and the absentees had explained their stands separately for skipping the meeting at Shivalay, the party’s legislative office in Mumbai. They also said that legislators’ absence from the meeting must not be linked to MPs shifting sides.

Those who skipped the meeting included MLAs Sanjay Potnis, Rahul Patil and Sanjay Derkar, and MLC Sunil Shinde.

Among the party’s older faces in Mumbai who stood by Uddhav during the 2022 split, 70-year-old Potnis currently is the MLA from Kalina and said he could not attend Monday’s meeting as he had some work.

Potnis first won the seat in 2014, defeating the Congress’s Kripashankar Singh, who was seen to be an influential leader. He retained the seat in 2019 and 2024, making him one of the Sena (UBT)’s few three-term MLAs from Mumbai.

His absence drew attention because Mumbai currently is the Sena (UBT)’s strongest remaining political base after the split, and Potnis is among the party’s senior city legislators.

Patil, 50, currently represents the Parbhani seat in the Assembly, and his absence did not go unnoticed as the district is in the limelight after Parbhani MP Sanjay Jadhav crossed over to the Shinde camp.

Patil has represented Parbhani since 2014. In the 2024 Assembly elections, he defeated the BJP’s Anand Bharose.

The three-time MLA cited MLC election results as well as preparations for Uddhav’s upcoming visit to the district as reasons for skipping Monday’s meeting.

A former MLA from Worli, currently represented by Aaditya Thackeray, 63-year-old Shinde was among the senior party leaders from Mumbai who backed Uddhav during the split.

He currently represents the Mumbai Local Authorities constituency in the Council and cited commitments in his hometown as a reason for skipping the meeting.

A relatively newer face of the Sena (UBT), Derkar, 60, currently represents the Wani seat in the Assembly.

In the 2024 elections, he defeated BJP sitting MLA Sanjivreddy Bodkurwar by over 15,000 votes, giving the Sena (UBT) an opening in Vidarbha, a region where the party has been facing organisational challenges since the split.

Prior to joining the Sena (UBT), Derkar unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Assembly elections as an Independent.

Vallabh Ozarkar is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express' Mumbai bureau, reco... Read More