Speculation about a rebellion within Shiv Sena (UBT) gained traction last week after Uddhav Thackeray convened a meeting of the party's Lok Sabha MPs. However, the roots of the unrest appear to trace back to a 20-year-old murder case whose aftereffects may have recently influenced the Sena's political narrative.
Six MPs – Sanjay Dina Patil, Nagesh Patil Ashtikar, Om Raje Nimbalkar, Bhausaheb Wakchaure, Sanjay Deshmukh and Sanjay Jadhav – are expected to split from the party and support the rival Sena, part of the NDA bloc.
The rebellion buzz became evident when the six MPs skipped the Sena-UBT's Friday event celebrating party's 60th foundation day and Uddhav launching an all-out attack at the rebels. While the development over the past few days have garnered spotlight, a key event that has been invoked is Pawanraje Nimbalkar's murder in 2006.
Pawanraje Nimbalkar, a Congress leader, also happens to be the father of Om Raje Nimbalkar, one of the alleged rebel MPs. Raje is an MP from Osmanabad (Dharashiv) in the Marathwada region.
Pawanraje Nimbalkar's murder and political fallout
Pawanraje Nimbalkar was murdered on June 3, 2006 along with his driver, Samad Abdul Wahid Kazi, while driving from Pune to Mumbai. The case had several accused, including the victim's first cousin and former Maharashtra home minister Padmasinh Bajirao Patil.
Earlier in Saturday (June 20), all nine accused, including Patil, were acquitted by a special CBI court.
