In an X post, he asserted that these lawmakers, elected with the support of the Congress and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), have abandoned the ideologies they were elected to represent.

Addressing the ongoing political crisis within Shiv Sena (UBT), amid reports of several MPs defecting to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena under the so-called “Operation Tiger”, Thackeray stated that the rebel MPs’ actions demonstrate that their loyalty and reputation are “for sale”. He further accused the government of using “public money” for political purposes.

“To the greedy MPs who have hopped over, you only prove the following, stronger than before: 1) Your loyalty, your reputation is for sale, shamelessly 2) The government is biased and uses public money, politically, as funds,” he said.

He claimed voters in these MPs’ constituencies had voted specifically against NDA candidates and the ideologies they represent, which the lawmakers have now “ditched” for greed.

“All of the ones that are jumping over now were elected on the platforms of the MVA and the INDIA, against the NDA. All of them had leaders from @ShivSenaUBT, @INCIndia and @NCPspeaks campaigning for them- each one asked for rallies from leaders of all parties and allies. They can’t even go on their nonsensical rant of ‘moved away from this and allied to that’ and did this and that. The voters voted against the NDA candidates and for INDIA in your constituencies and for all it stands for. Just accept that your greed got you to ditch all of it overnight, shamelessly,” he added.

Separately, Shiv Sena (UBT) issued a show-cause notice on Saturday to absentee MPs, warning of possible disqualification under the Anti-Defection Law. The notice, sent by the party’s Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha, Anil Desai, directed the MPs to provide a written explanation within 24 hours for their absence from a crucial parliamentary party meeting.

The party stated that failure to respond would be considered voluntary relinquishment of party membership, potentially leading to action under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.

The controversy escalated after only three of the party’s nine Lok Sabha MPs attended a parliamentary party meeting held in New Delhi on Thursday. Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai and Rajabhau Waje were present, while six MPs, including Sanjay Dina Patil, stayed absent.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut had indicated that proceedings to seek disqualification of the absent MPs had begun.

The political turbulence intensified following claims by Shiv Sena MLC Chandrakant Raghuvanshi that six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs had expressed confidence in Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and joined his faction.

This development coincides with speculation about a new split within Shiv Sena (UBT), with reports suggesting that six of the party’s nine Lok Sabha MPs might join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

The six MPs whose absence generated speculation are Nagesh Aashtikar, Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Dina Patil, Omprakash Rajenimbalkar and Bhausaheb Wakchaure. Meanwhile, Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai, Rajabhau Waje and Sanjay Raut attended the parliamentary meeting.