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Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray has dared Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to poach his MPs, even as eight parliamentarians rejected claims that they will abandon the opposition party.
His assertion on Friday came amid buzz that Shiv Sena-UBT MPs could join the Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Maharashtra Minister Uday Samant on Friday claimed that many leaders from the opposition Shiv Sena-UBT were in touch with his party and would be inducted in phases.
"People have realised that Shinde's leadership is better than that of the Shiv Sena-UBT. His leadership is good and sensitive, which is why so many people are in touch. Many people are reaching out to the party, and it is certain that they will enter the fold phase-wise," Samant said.
"If any mission is to be undertaken, it is not done openly. There is no need to implement any mission here, considering the work Shinde has done," he asserted.
Several Shiv Sena-UBT functionaries and former corporators from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Akola joined the Shiv Sena in the presence of Shinde.
"Everyone is in touch. When I was the CM, people of all parties came to me. Now, I am the deputy CM and hold the urban development, housing and MSRDC portfolios. People are in touch. I give importance to work. Do not ascribe any political meaning," Shinde said when asked whether Shiv Sena-UBT MPs would join his party.
Hitting back, Thackeray said, "I dare you to try poaching Shiv Sena-UBT MPs. I challenge you to take away even a single Shiv Sena worker without using police and government machinery and central agencies."
In Delhi, eight Shiv Sena-UBT parliamentarians -- Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai, Omraje Nimbalkar, Bhausaheb Wakchaure, Rajabhau Waje, Sanjay Jadhav, Nagesh Ashtikar and Sanjay Deshmukh -- asserted that they were firmly with the Thackeray-led party.
Shiv Sena-UBT has nine members in the Lok Sabha and two in the Rajya Sabha.
Sawant asserted that none of the Shiv Sena-UBT MPs had received any phone calls and condemned the attempts to "spread rumours" about mass desertions from the Thackeray-led party.
The former Union minister said the Shiv Sena-UBT MPs had been with the party in difficult times and would continue to do so.
The two outfits have been bickering since the BJP-led Mahayuti swept to power in Maharashtra in November, leaving the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition with just 46 seats in the 288-member assembly.
The Shinde-led Shiv Sena won 57 seats in the assembly polls, gaining an upper hand over the Thackeray-led outfit ahead of the crucial local bodies elections, expected later this year.