Four years after the historic 2022 rebellion, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena UBT is facing a fresh crisis of confidence over its internal unity. Speculation about a second split intensified after five out of nine Lok Sabha MPs skipped a high-stakes, physical show of strength called at Matoshree. Fueling the defection buzz under the Shinde camp’s rumored "Operation Tiger," Yavatmal-Washim MP Sanjay Deshmukh was spotted in a closed-door meeting with Shinde Sena Union Minister Prataprao Jadhav. Though the Thackeray faction vehemently rubbished the rumors as fabricated, individual reassessments are underway ahead of the party's foundation day.