The buzz of a possible breakaway by some Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs has put the spotlight on the history of rebellion in the Shiv Sena, founded by Bal Thackeray in 1966.
In its 60-year history, the Shiv Sena weathered several mutinies and leadership battles. While it often emerged stronger after crushing such revolts under Bal Thackeray’s leadership, the splits after his death fundamentally altered Maharashtra’s political landscape.

The Sena’s history of internal dissent predates its major political successes. In the 1970s, Bandu Shingre, a leader from Mumbai’s mill belt and an early Shiv Sainik, fell out with Bal Thackeray and floated a parallel outfit known as the ‘Prati Shiv Sena’ (meaning Parallel Shiv Sena). The rebellion failed to gain traction and quickly faded, but it was the first attempt to challenge Thackeray’s authority from within the Sena. It would take another two decades before the Sena faced its first serious split.

The first major challenge to Bal Thackeray’s leadership came in December 1991 when Chhagan Bhujbal, then one of the Sena’s tallest OBC leaders and Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, walked out of the party. Bhujbal had risen through the ranks of the Sena’s Mumbai organisation and was instrumental in expanding the party beyond its traditional urban base. However, differences with the leadership widened amid complaints that OBC leaders were being sidelined within the party.

Bhujbal’s rebellion was significant because, for the first time, a senior lieutenant openly challenged Bal Thackeray’s authority. He claimed that 18 Shiv Sena MLAs were prepared to leave with him. At the time, this number was crucial because the anti-defection law contained a provision recognising a “split” if at least one-third of a legislature party broke away. With the Sena having 52 MLAs in the Assembly, Bhujbal needed the support of at least 18 legislators to qualify for protection under the law.

However, when the breakaway faction was formally constituted, only six MLAs reportedly signed the letter submitted to the Assembly Speaker recognising a separate group called Shiv Sena (B). Several legislators who were expected to join reportedly backed out at the last moment.
Despite the reduced numbers, Bhujbal and his supporters escaped disqualification. The Speaker recognised the breakaway faction under the anti-defection framework that existed at the time. The one-third “split” provision was later abolished through the 91st Constitutional Amendment in 2003.

Bhujbal and his supporters subsequently moved towards the Congress, which was then in power in Maharashtra under Sudhakarrao Naik.
The rebellion rattled the Sena, but Bal Thackeray quickly regained control of the organisation. In the years that followed, most of the legislators who sided with Bhujbal faded from the political mainstream. Bhujbal, however, went on to become Deputy Chief Minister, state Home Minister and one of Maharashtra’s most influential OBC leaders.

The next major rupture came in 2005. Narayan Rane, one of the Sena’s most aggressive leaders and chief minister between February and October 1999, had long been considered a contender for a larger role in the party. His relationship with Uddhav Thackeray deteriorated as Bal Thackeray increasingly projected his son as his political successor. The confrontation culminated in July 2005 when Rane quit the Sena and joined the Congress.

At the peak of the rebellion, Rane claimed that 42 of the Sena’s 63 MLAs supported him. He asserted that 22 MLAs were physically with him while another 20 had expressed support over the phone. The numbers, however, never materialised. Contemporary reports suggested that only a handful of legislators openly sided with him, with around nine MLAs attending meetings convened by Rane after his expulsion from the party.

Unlike Bhujbal, Rane was operating under a stricter anti-defection regime. The one-third split provision had already been abolished by the 91st Constitutional Amendment. Any breakaway group now required the support of two-thirds of a legislature party to avoid disqualification. Rane never came close to that threshold. The rebellion failed to produce a recognised legislative split, though it weakened the Sena in parts of the Konkan where Rane commanded considerable influence. He subsequently joined the Congress and won a by-election from Malvan. Later, he joined the BJP and also became a Union Minister.

Raj Thackeray’s departure was rooted in a succession battle. For years, Bal Thackeray’s nephew was widely seen as his political heir. Raj’s oratory and organisational skills and resemblance to Bal Thackeray made him immensely popular among party workers.

When Bal Thackeray anointed Uddhav Thackeray as his successor, tensions within the Sena’s first family deepened. In 2006, Raj quit the Sena and floated the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Unlike Bhujbal and Rane, Raj did not take a significant number of sitting MLAs with him. The split was organisational rather than legislative. Yet it proved electorally damaging.

The MNS quickly emerged as a force among Marathi voters, particularly in Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and Pune. In the 2009 Assembly election, the party won 13 seats and was widely seen as having cut into the Sena’s traditional Marathi vote base. For more than a decade, the MNS remained a persistent challenge to the Sena in urban Maharashtra. Later, its poll prospects plummeted.

The biggest crisis in the Sena’s history unfolded in June 2022. Eknath Shinde, a senior leader from Thane and one of the party’s most powerful organisational figures, rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership. The revolt was triggered by discontent over the Sena’s alliance with the Congress and the NCP in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

Unlike previous rebellions, Shinde secured the backing of a majority of the party’s legislators. More than 40 of the Sena’s 55 MLAs sided with him, leading to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray government. Shinde subsequently formed a government with BJP support and became chief minister.

What followed was an unprecedented legal and political battle over the party’s identity. In 2023, the Election Commission recognised the Shinde faction as the official Shiv Sena and allotted it the party’s iconic bow-and-arrow symbol. Uddhav Thackeray’s faction was subsequently renamed Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).

Unlike the earlier rebellions, which the Sena eventually survived, the Shinde revolt split the organisation, dividing legislators, MPs, corporators and the party machinery between two rival claimants to Bal Thackeray’s legacy.

As fresh speculation over a possible split among Sena (UBT) MPs gathers pace, the party once again finds itself confronting a challenge it has faced several times in its six-decade history.