Parliamentarians from the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray or UBT) met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday (June 17, 2026), soon after holding a press conference in New Delhi. “We went to request the Speaker to respect our caveat letter. We had sent the letter by email on Tuesday (June 16, 2026) night. But we personally went and met him today (Wednesday) to tell him that, in case any other group approaches him, he should hear us first,” Anil Desai, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP, told The Hindu. There is speculation about a second rebellion striking the Shiv Sena (UBT).

When asked if the party had approached the Supreme Court for relief, Mr. Desai said that a legal recourse was being mulled over, but only if the caveat letter was not considered by the Speaker. “When we met the Speaker, he told us that nobody else had met him yet, that nothing had reached him yet. We have full faith in the system. We hope no undue relief is given to them,” he said.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) has nine Lok Sabha members. Of them, six appear likely to split. Sources in the Shiv Sena have claimed that they are set to join the party (Shiv Sena) at an event in Mumbai on June 19, 2026. There has been speculation over ‘Operation Tiger’ in Maharashtra for quite some time now. It intensified when six out of the nine Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs failed to attend a meeting called by Uddhav Thackeray on June 14 at his residence ‘Matoshree’ in Mumbai.

Party leader Sanjay Raut later told reporters that the absent parliamentarians had “taken an oath in the name of God to pledge their allegiance” to Mr. Thackeray. If the six leaders switched sides, the Shiv Sena (UBT) cadre would take matter into their own hands, and these MPs would have to “face the consequences”, Mr. Raut said.

“What is the point of a democratically held election if this is going to happen?” Mr. Raut said, adding that the entire Opposition was frustrated.

Such a development will effectively bring down the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s strength in Parliament from nine to three, and would in turn have a direct bearing on the strength of Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc in the Lok Sabha, while increasing the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) numbers.

While the NDA enjoys a majority in the Lok Sabha, sources in the Shiv Sena indicated that the ruling alliance aspired to secure the support of two-third of the MPs in the Lok Sabha.

Mr. Desai claimed that even if two-thirds of the party’s MPs approached the Speaker, the Speaker would still have to consider the original party before allowing a merger. “The provision in the law is that the original party and two-third MPs should merge with the party. Both these provisions should be followed conjunctively. They cannot merge with any other party. They will have no protection in law. If they do, they shouldn’t be recognised. If they go beyond that, we will have to resort to litigation,” he said.

The party has served a Whip to all its MPs, calling for a meeting on Thursday, June 18, 2026.

Shiv Sena (UBT) letter

The letter written by the Shiv Sena (UBT) Parliamentary Party leader Arvind Sawant was accessed by The Hindu.

Elaborating on the interpretation of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, Mr. Sawant’s letter states: “At the outset, I would like to emphasise that the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) is one political party and remains so in the eyes of law. The parliamentary party owes its existence entirely to, and functions as a constituent part of, the political party. The constitutional framework does not envisage the existence of multiple competing formations claiming to represent the same political party within the House. Consequently, there can be only one authorised party leadership in Parliament, one recognised party Whip, and one recognised party structure acting under the authority of the political party and its competent organs.”

In the letter, the party has referred to constitutional provisions, and interpretations by the Supreme Court, while claiming the right to be heard before any decision was taken.

It has said that two separate conditions need to be fulfilled when it comes to a merger.

“First, a merger of the original political party; and second, the support of not less than two-thirds of the members of the legislature party concerned. The two requirements operate conjunctively and not disjunctively. Public reports appear to proceed on the erroneous assumption that the numerical requirement alone is sufficient. That is contrary to the Constitution and its interpretation by the Supreme Court. Accordingly, even assuming, without admitting, that a particular number of members of the legislature party have acted in concert, there has been no merger of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) with any other political party, nor has there been any constitutionally recognised transformation of the political party into another entity. The distinction deliberately drawn by the Constitution between a ‘political party’ and a ‘legislature party’ makes it clear that the conditions relating to both must be satisfied before Paragraph 4 can be invoked,” the letter said.