Six MPs from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) joined Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena on Monday, delivering a significant setback to the opposition party ahead of crucial political contests in Maharashtra.

“The six tigers are here. They have all now joined the real Shiv Sena family. I welcome them to the real Shiv Sena family,” Shinde, who led the 2022 rebellion, said. “Earlier, we rebelled to save bow and arrow and Shiv Sena Party. The second phase of it has begun now.”

Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav, Bhausaheb Rajaram Wakchaure, Omprakash Bhupalsingh Nimbalkar, Sanjay Dina Patil, Sanjay Uttamrao Deshmukh and Nagesh Bapurao Patil Ashtikar joined the Shinde faction.

Of the six MPs, Ashtikar and Nimbalkar had already declared on Sunday that they were moving to the Shiv Sena led by Shinde.

The induction of the six MPs marks the latest development in the battle for the Shiv Sena’s political legacy, nearly four years after Eknath Shinde’s 2022 rebellion split the party and toppled the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in Maharashtra.