New Delhi, June 22 -- The six rebel Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs, who defied the party whip by skipping the crucial Parliamentary party meeting last week, ended all speculation over their future on Monday by announcing their split from the Uddhav Thackeray-led party. While earlier the group of breakaway Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs had chosen to join the little-known NCPI, a party with no representation in a state Assembly let alone Parliament, the Shiv Sena (UBT) rebels went to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
But what stood out in both cases was that neither faction joined the BJP despite the saffron party's perceived influence in the developments.
Observers say several factors explain the strategy, the foremost being the need to navigate the An...