MUMBAI: Amid reports of “Operation Tiger” to engineer a split in Shiv Sena (UBT) and speculation that six of its MPs had reached Delhi, party MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday alleged that Maharashtra MPs were being offered Rs 15 crore each to switch sides. He claimed the “minimum support price” was Rs 50 crore per MP and that Rs 15 crore was merely an advance.“Apna Sapna Money Money! It’s shocking and revolting that Maharashtra MPs are reportedly being offered Rs 15 crore each tonight to switch sides,” Raut said in a post on X, tagging chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.Reacting to Raut’s post, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra claimed that TMC MPs had been offered Rs 4 crore upfront and Rs 1 crore a month for the remaining 36 months of their term.“Rs 15 cr? Saste mein kyo jaa rahe hai? Believe us, ours got Rs 4 cr upfront and Rs 1 cr a month for the next 36 months of the term… Honey plus Money,” Moitra posted on X.Responding to Moitra, Raut wrote: “Apna Sapna Money Money! No, no, Mahua ji. The minimum support price is fixed at Rs 50 crore per MP. Rs 15 crore is just the advance. Frankly, these people aren’t even worth Rs 50,000. Their price has only gone up because of the Shiv Sena and TMC brand labels.”Sena functionaries claimed that MPs Omraje Nimbalkar (Dharashiv), Sanjay Jadhav (Parbhani), Sanjay Dina Patil (Mumbai North East), Nagesh Patil Ashtikar (Hingoli), Bhausaheb Wakchaure (Shirdi) and Sanjay Deshmukh (Yavatmal-Washim) were in Delhi and were preparing to break away from the party.According to the functionaries, only three MPs — Arvind Sawant (South Mumbai), Anil Desai (Mumbai South Central) and Rajabhau Waze (Nashik) — remained firmly with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT).Dismissing reports of “Operation Tiger”, Sena (UBT) MP Anil Desai said on Tuesday: “There’s no such thing. Two days ago, when Uddhav ji called a meeting of our MPs at Matoshree in Mumbai, all nine MPs attended. Four were physically present, while the remaining five joined through video conferencing. There is no truth to these reports. An attempt is being made to create a stir, but there is no substance to it.”
