Amid defections from the Sena UBT after its dismal performance in the recent Assembly elections, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party has convened meetings of its MPs and MLAs on February 20 and 25 respectively in Mumbai. Thackeray and Sena UBT Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut will interact with the party leaders during these meetings where a discussion is also likely on the choosing its leader in the state Legislative Assembly. The Uddhav-led Sena’s attempt to keep its flock together also come in a year when the local bodies elections are to be held. According to sources in the Sena UBT, the party is formulating a strategy to counter the defections after former MLA from Konkan Rajan Salvi along with several party leaders and functionaries quit the party and joined Deputy CM Ekanth Shinde-led Shiv Sena. After the defection of Salvi, Bhaskar Jadhav, the only Sena UBT MLA from Konkan region, has also expressed his discontent over the party's functioning. The party is now organising a series of rallies to regain its lost ground in Konkan region, which was once a stronghold of the undivided Shiv Sena. Meanwhile, on Monday, Jitendra Janawale, the deputy block chief of Bandra West, quit Sena UBT expressing his displeasure over the functioning of party leader and MLC Anil Parab. In a letter to Thackeray, Janawale said, “I am sorry to inform that I cannot work under the mismanagement and hence I am resigning from the post.” Janawale was the first person to visit Thackeray after the party lost its symbol bow and arrow to Shinde Sena after the split in 2022.
