Mangaluru: Four years after the original 2022 split that brought down his government, Uddhav Thackeray finds himself presiding over a drastically diminished force. Six of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) or Shiv Sena (UBT)’s nine Lok Sabha MPs have formally crossed over to the Eknath Shinde-led faction.On Monday (June 22), as the six MPs joined Shinde’s party, he announced in Mumbai that ‘Operation Tiger’ has been a “success”.Shinde, who had caused a vertical split in the party four years ago, has reduced Thackeray’s faction now to three MPs.The six MPs are Sanjay Dina Patil (representing Mumbai North East), Sanjay Uttamrao Deshmukh (Yavatmal), Nagesh Patil Ashtikar (Hingoli), Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar (Dharashiv), Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav (Parbhani) and Bhausaheb Rajaram Wakchaure (Shirdi). They had earlier skipped an emergency party meeting called by Thackeray in New Delhi, later met the Lok Sabha speaker and on Monday formally joined Shinde’s camp in Mumbai.Talking to the media, Shinde faction leader Shaina N.C. claimed that many more MLAs and corporators may soon join their faction.The latest exodus comes from a familiar script of defections. In June 2022, Shinde, then a senior Shiv Sena leader, rebelled against Thackeray’s leadership. Shinde had left the party along with several MLAs and this exodus was widely seen as a move engineered with support from the BJP. The then-Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government consisting of the united Shiv Sena, united Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress had collapsed overnight.In 2022, when Shinde parted ways from the Shiv Sena, the move was contested both before the Election Commission (EC) and in the Supreme Court. The EC was prompt in recognising Shinde’s group as the “real” Shiv Sena and allotted it the original bow and arrow symbol. Thackeray’s faction was left with the “flaming torch” and the suffix UBT.Despite the dynamics favouring Shinde’s faction, in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls the UBT faction outperformed Shinde’s group, winning nine seats as part of the INDIA bloc-aligned MVA.For Thackeray, who positioned his faction as the ideological inheritor of Bal Thackeray’s legacy, the repeated acts of betrayal pose an existential challenge.“The Shiv Sena’s political legacy was built around protecting the rights of Marathi people and there could be only one Shiv Sena. In 2024 we fought against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led alliance and still won with the people’s support. Now by defecting for power and money, these MPs betrayed the party and the people,” Thackeray said responding to the recent defection.