BJP Calls Uddhav Thackeray ‘Python Who Swallowed His Own Party’ After UBT Chief's 'Anaconda' Jibe

Last Updated:October 28, 2025, 10:53 IST

The feud between Shiv Sena-UBT and BJP was triggered over a report by Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamna alleging land grabbing in Mumbai.

News18

After Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction (UBT)) launched a dual attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party on Tuesday lashed out at party chief Uddhav Thackeray for “swallowing his own party" like a python.

Maharashtra Revenue Minister and BJP state chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule called Uddhav Thackeray an “ajgar" (python).

“Uddhav Thackeray is the python who has swallowed his own party," Bawankule said, in an apparent reference to the old, undivided Shiv Sena, which is now split into two factions.

The Shiv Sena, once a unified party founded by Bal Thackeray in 1966 on a platform of Marathi pride and Hindutva, formally split in 2022 after a bitter power struggle.

The rift emerged when senior leader Eknath Shinde led a rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership, accusing him of abandoning the party’s core ideology by aligning with the Congress and NCP under the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition.

The revolt saw a majority of Sena MLAs shift allegiance to Shinde, who went on to form a new government in Maharashtra with the BJP’s support.

The Election Commission later recognised Shinde’s faction as the “real Shiv Sena," awarding it the party’s name and the iconic bow-and-arrow symbol, while Uddhav Thackeray’s group was renamed Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) or Sena (UBT).

The split marked the end of an era for the Thackeray family’s uncontested control over the party.

BJP’s sharp retort comes after Uddhav Thackeray on Monday called BJP’s major leaders “anaconda" and “Abdali" (reference to Afghan invader from the 18th century) at a party function at the NSCI Dome in Worli.

Thackeray accused the BJP of attempting to “swallow" Mumbai through political manipulation and land grabbing and vowed he would resist any such move. Earlier, the Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamna in its editorial alleged that the new BJP office was built “by grabbing land in lightning speed".

The Sena (UBT) chief also compared major leaders of the ruling dispensation to a recently introduced anaconda at Jijamata Udyaan, also known as Victoria Gardens and the Byculla Zoo.

News politics BJP Calls Uddhav Thackeray ‘Python Who Swallowed His Own Party’ After UBT Chief's 'Anaconda' Jibe

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