With speculation that 6 Lok Sabha MPs on Wednesday were planning to quit the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and join hands with Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, leaders of the Sena (UBT) resorted to making various allegations including Rs 15 crore in advance payments made to the defectors for crossing-over. Leaders from the ruling Shiv Sena hit back, saying that the opposition party was responsible for leaving their MPs unsatisfied and looking for exits.
Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut alleged that the 6 MPs received Rs 15 crore advance payment and would be collectively getting Rs 50 crore for detection.
Sanjay Raut also alleged that 6 MPs were taken to Delhi by charter planes from various cities like Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Nanded.
Another Sena leader Sushma Andhare alleged Dharashiv MP Omraje Nimbalkar, who is considered close to Uddhav Thackeray and who has been repeatedly saying that he won’t leave the Sena (UBT), was taken to Delhi past midnight from Pune. Sena leaders alleged that three attempts to take Omraje from Pune to Delhi on Tuesday failed. ”In the fourth attempt, the managed to fly Omraje to Delhi.”
Omraje, who has been staying in Pune due to a medical emergency in his family, had denied that he was among the 6 MPs who would be joining hands with Shinde Sena.
”I am tired of answering this question relating to leaving the party…I have not been offered any money by anyone,” he said.
Omraje Nimbalkar denied that he had gone to Delhi. “I am in Pune. I have not gone to Delhi,” he told mediapersons. Omraje said,”The common man knows how I have struggled in life and how I have come up in life. And therefore they won’t believe such speculations.”
As for the alleged offer of Rs 15 crore, Omraje said,”What offer ? If you know of any offer, let me know…”
As for a video of him with Eknath Shinde going viral, Omraje said,”The video was an old one, belonging to 2019. It is being deliberately circulated to create confusion. I am going to take legal action in the matter.”
Raut alleged that Omraje has been promised a favourable verdict in the murder case of his father, Pavanraje Nimbalkar.
A murder trial linked to MP Omraje Nimbalkar’s father is ongoing, Raut claimed that Omraje was offered a deal. ”Join our party if you want the verdict to go in your favor.’ Last night, between 10:30 and 11 pm, a prominent person called me. He said that MPs from Maharashtra are being bought. I asked him what the price was. He said, ‘The same guaranteed price of 50 crore rupees.’ They were not willing to sit in the plane until Rs 15 crores were paid tonight. If parties are broken in this manner, there is no meaning to contesting elections in the country,” Raut said.
Andhare said, “I called Omraje in the morning, but he did not pick up. Then I called MLA Kailas Dada Patil, who stands by him like a brother and a shadow. He told me, ‘Tai, how can I guarantee others? I can only guarantee myself.’ Therefore, the ambiguity in Kailas Patil’s words is quite telling,” said Andhare at a press conference in Pune.
Andhare alleged that two MPs were behind the entire operation “MP Sanjay Deshmukh is the captain of this entire campaign, and the vice captain is Nagesh Patil Ashtikar.”
She alleged that these two play a major role in the ongoing movements within the party, saying, “Nagesh Patil Ashtikar is deliberately trying to fool everyone. He thinks he is an expert. But we are well aware of everything, including the meetings held by him and Sanjay Deshmukh over the last two months, and the call he made to me and the party leadership the night before.”
Claiming that the dissatisfaction within the Uddhav Sena had been building up for a long time, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat said, “This process is not just from today. Something must have been going on for a long time. As a result, today the MPs do not want to stay with them.”
Shiv Sena Minister Gulabrao Patil, a close aide of Eknath Shinde, said, “Sanjay Raut is a man who brings bad luck. Since he took the reins of the party, Shiv Sena’s downfall began.”
Nashik MP Rajabhau Waje (Sena-UBT) denied that he had been offered a large sum of money to quit the party.
”Nobody has contacted me and therefore there is no question of any money being offered to me,” Waje told the media on Wednesday.
The name of Waje was among those doing the rounds. However, Waje denied that he would leave the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena. ”Yesterday, I was with Uddhavji and would remain with him tomorrow as well,” he said.
The Nashik MP denied that Ekanth Shinde or any other Sena leader had phoned him up. ”Ekanth Shinde has not contacted me nor anyone else. And I don’t think they will contact me. If they wanted to, they would have done this long back,” he said.
Sources close to Waje said Parbhani MP Sanjay Jadhav had met Waje at his Sinnar residence in April. During the meeting, he was urged to join the Eknath Shinde-led Sena,” sources said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut alleged that the six MPs received Rs 15 crore advance payment and would be collectively getting Rs 50 crore for detection. (PTI photo) 
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