New Delhi, June 19 -- Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Friday said that several MPs of the Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT) were dissatisfied with the party leadership and thus were distancing themselves from it.

Referring to the recent party meeting in which six of the party's MPs absented themselves despite a party whip, Athawale said, "I believe that six of their MPs did not join because they do not want to be with them. Uddhav Thackeray made a mistake by leaving his Mahayuti and joining Maha Vikas Aghadi... this is the result of Thackeray's mistake of aligning with the Congress-NCP."

He further added that had Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray aligned with the NDA from the beginning in 2019, the present situation would not ha...