Mumbai, June 19 (AHN) Highlighting the high-stakes political drama gripping Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief leader Eknath Shinde on Friday launched a blistering attack on the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) during his party’s 60th Foundation Day rally.

Amid intense speculation surrounding “Operation Tiger” , a rumoured defection where six Shiv Sena (UBT) Lok Sabha Members of Parliament are poised to cross over to Shinde’s faction, Shinde dropped heavy hints of an impending political shift.

“This is just the trailer; the movie is still to come,” he declared.

Addressing party workers, Shinde used sharp rhetoric to hit back at opposition leaders who have been targeting him over the rumoured defection. He said people had been asking what he would say and who would take the stage.

“Look, this tiger stands right in front of you today!” he thundered. He added that he had been watching for the past couple of days as “a few dogs bark daily,” remarking that dogs bark in packs but a lion walks alone.

Without directly naming Uddhav Thackeray or Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, Shinde responded to the UBT faction’s warning of an “Operation Tudava” (Operation Stomp). Raut had threatened that party workers would “stomp” rebel lawmakers if they entered their constituencies. Shinde mocked Raut’s political stature and issued a fierce open challenge to the UBT leadership.

He said some people had claimed they would perform an operation on wolves, but mocked that “he is just a compounder. How can a compounder perform an operation? Over here, Shrikant Shinde (his son) is the real doctor. Even though I am not a doctor, I still know how to operate. And to perform an operation, you need the heart of a tiger, not a wolf.”

Recalling his June 2022 rebellion, Shinde stated that the same leaders had threatened him four years ago when he returned to Mumbai.

“They told me I had to come via Worli. Mumbai is nobody’s personal estate. I came alone by road, bypassing the helicopter at the airport, and I even stopped in Worli. Back then, those who threatened me were busy watching me online from inside their homes.”

Backed by senior leader Ramdas Kadam’s remarks, Shinde warned that if the UBT faction talked about “Operation Tudava,” they should have the courage to face his camp. “Will our fierce Shiv Sainiks leave your legs intact to stomp anyone? Our workers carry the hardcore ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray,” he said.