MUMBAI, June 20 -- Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has offered to resign if party workers have lost faith in him. "I will not run away if you do not have faith in me, I will step down," said Thackeray, weathering a rebellion in his party, where six MPs are in the process of switching to the ruling Shiv Sena. His only condition, he said, is that "a true Sena worker should head the party, not a traitor". Accompanied by his son and party MP, Aaditya, wife Rashmi and party leaders, Thackeray was addressing thousands of party workers at the 60th anniversary of the Shiv Sena, founded by his father Bal Thackeray, at Shanmukhanand Hall on Friday. Apologising to voters in the constituencies of the six rebel MPs, he remarked, "You voted in response to my appeal, in Balasaheb's name. "We won these nine seats without using Modi's name," said Thackeray, referring to the Sena (UBT)'s nine Lok Sabha MPs. On his offer to step down as party chief, the Sena (UBT) chief remarked, "I am strong enough to fight against these people and have not lost morale. But do you think I should step down from the post?" Party workers responded, saying he shouldn't even consider something so absurd. The Sena (UBT) chief also ridiculed the breakaway MPs' allegations there were plans to merge the Sena (UBT) with the Congress. "Shiv Sena was formed for Marathi manoos, not to merge with any party," he said. He also said the Congress was a "better enemy" than the BJP. "Half our lives were spent opposing the Congress but the BJP, which grew in Maharashtra due to a helping hand from the Shiv Sena and party founder Balasaheb Thackeray, is now trying to finish our party," said Thackeray. Although the rebel MPs are expected to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, Thackeray blamed the Sena's senior partner in the Mahayuti government, the BJP, for driving the rebellion in his party. "The BJP's greed of power is so much that it has started to split parties across the nation. This anti-democratic politics of BJP is pushing the nation towards anarchy. To save the nation from the BJP, the country needs Operation Lotus," he said. On the rebel MPs' "false claims" about a merger with the Congress, Thackeray remarked, "There is no question of a merger with the Congress. These people took the help of the Congress and other parties in the MVA to win the Lok Sabha election and are now raising questions about the it. They said I and Aaditya did not tour the state. If that is true, how did you get elected in the Lok Sabha election? In local body elections, we wanted MPs and MLAs to grow as leaders of the party, in their districts," said the Sena (UBT) chief. He said party workers should "confront the traitor MPs" as they played a key role in their electoral victory. Thackeray also said the Sena's success should not be measured by electoral success as the party was born as a movement to protect Marathi and Maharashtra's pride. "We should not count the party's success in terms of success in elections. Once party founder Balasaheb Thackeray told then Union home minister, Indrajit Gupta, that the Shiv Sena was not born for power."...