Three Shiv Sena (UBT) legislators on Monday skipped a meeting convened by party chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai to chalk out a strategy for the ongoing monsoon session of the Maharashtra legislature, amid a fresh setback for the party following the defection of six MPs.
Thackeray chaired the meeting of the party's MLAs and MLCs at the Sena (UBT) office 'Shivalay' on the opening day of the session.
The meeting took place even as six party MPs formally joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena at the Yashwantrao Chavan Pratishthan, located about 500 metres away.
MLC Sunil Shinde and MLAs Sanjay Potnis (Kalina) and Rahul Patil (Parbhani) were absent from the meeting. Patil said he was occupied with the counting process for the legislative council polls and was also overseeing preparations for Thackeray's upcoming visit to Parbhani.
Sunil Shinde told PTI he was in Chiplun, his native place, and was on his way back to Mumbai.
Potnis did not specify the reason for his absence but maintained that he remained with Shiv Sena (UBT).
During the meeting, Thackeray directed legislators to corner the Mahayuti government on issues such as the "inadequate" farm loan waiver, deteriorating law and order, crimes against women and the rising menace of drug peddling, according to a party MLA.
The developments come days after six Sena (UBT) MPs skipped a key parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi attended by only three Lok Sabha members before switching allegiance to the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. The latest defections mark the second major split in the Thackeray camp in four years.
(With inputs from PTI)