Poster war erupts between Shiv Sena factions on foundation day
What's the story
The two factions of the Shiv Sena party celebrated their foundation day separately in Mumbai on Friday, four years after Eknath Shinde, along with a large number of MLAs, rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray's leadership, leading to a split in the party. The celebrations were overshadowed by rumors of "Operation Tiger," a term used to describe the alleged defection of several Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs to Shinde's camp.
Defection speculation
3 out of 9 MPs attend crucial meeting
The internal strife in Shiv Sena (UBT) was on display when the party leadership summoned all MPs for a crucial meeting at the party's Parliament office in New Delhi amid rumors of a possible split in the party. Only three out of the nine Lok Sabha MPs showed up. The party has issued show-cause notices to six of its Lok Sabha MPs who skipped the crucial parliamentary meeting on Thursday.
Twitter Post
Posters put by both Thackeray and Shinde camps
#WATCH | Mumbai | Posters on Shiv Sena Foundation day put by both Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde groups
— ANI (@ANI) June 19, 2026
Visuals from Bandra, Kalanagar and Matoshree areas pic.twitter.com/EEmx04OPgk
Celebration contrast
Expected highlights of the celebrations
The Shinde-led Shiv Sena is expected to hold a grand celebration, showcasing its growing support base after the latest defections. Meanwhile, Thackeray's faction is likely to have a subdued event as it deals with the fallout of the rebellion. Both leaders are expected to address party workers during their respective events.
Internal strife
Rebel MPs signed letter seeking merger, report claims
Sources told PTI that the rebel MPs have signed a letter seeking a merger with the Shinde-led Sena and submitted it to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. But the procedure is not yet complete, with the speaker's office understood to require the physical appearance of some of the MPs for verification, and that is "expected to happen in the coming days," they added. The sources also said that signature verification was ongoing.
Split
Party split in 2022
If the merger happens, it will be a repeat of the 2022 exodus, when Shinde rebelled against Thackeray's leadership to form a different faction of the Shiv Sena, which was founded by Bal Keshav Thackeray, the father of Uddhav. Following the ensuing political and legal battles, the Election Commission recognized the Shinde group as the official Shiv Sena and assigned it the party's traditional 'bow and arrow' symbol, while the Uddhav-led faction came to be known as Shiv Sena (UBT).