Fall out of Shiv Sena split, what next in Maharastra

With the rebel MPs of Uddhav faction of Shiv Sena, splitting the party, now it is the turn of the 20 MLAs in the maharastra assembly from Uddhav group to revolt and join rival Eknath Shinde group. Reports indicates that 14 of 20 MLAs are already warming up.This will be followed by NCP(sharad pawar) group, with its 8 lok sabha MPs and 10 MLAs, likely to split.

Post Published By: Sujata Biswal

Updated : 18 June 2026, 5:09 PM IST

Uddhav camp faces fresh jolt as Sena MLAs eye Shinde switch

New Delhi: For nearly Three months, there were wide speculations in the political and media circles that the Shiv Sena(UBT) parliamentary party going to split and a major faction would join the Eknath Shinde. This proved correct, following the BJP's recent success in engineering defections in Mamata's Trinamool Congress and now its alleged role in Maharastra.

Now, it is said that Uddhav's 20 state assembly MLAs could split the party and join the shinde group with 14 MLAs already waiting in the wings. Political pundits visualise that NCP Sharad Pawar's 8 Lok Sabha MPs and 10 MLAs are also reportedly under pressure.

After Shiv Sena(UBT) split, a further round of defections from the NCP (sharad pawar) faction to the BJP's side would extend the ruling alliance's numbers in both the houses of parliament.

In Maharastra, it may be recalled that the current defections are possible in part because of unresolved litigation over the 10th schedule of the Constitution, known as, anti-defction law. when Eknath Shinde broke from Shiv Sena in 2022, the matter went to the Election Commission (EC), which alloted the original party and party symbol--bow and arrow, to his faction. Uddhav challenged the EC order in the Supreme Court: Now the matter is sub-judice.

Similarly, the same sequence followed Ajit Pawar's split from the NCP in 2023: the EC alloted the original party name and symbol to ajit's faction. Sharad Pawar's group appealed to the Supreme Court, and now the case is pending.

Both the cases turn on a constitutional question and the courts have not yet resolved. Experts say that the legal uncertainty has created a window that the BJP and its allies have exploited in Maharastra, West bengal and elsewhere. Until Supreme Court decides on the Shiv Sena and NCP cases, that window remains open.

Beyond the legal question lies a political one. The six MPs seeking to join the Shinde won their seats in 2024 on a mandate explicitly against the NDA. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the MVA won 30 of Maharastra's 48 seats while Mahayuti alliance won 17-- a verdict that Maharastra interpreted, at the time, as a decisive rebuke of the ruling coalition.