Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday alleged that defecting party MPs are being offered Rs 50 crore to switch sides, including Rs 15 crore advance.
Raut made the claim in a post on X while responding to a post by TMC's Mahua Moitra's post.
"Only Rs 15 cr? Saste mein kyo jaa rahe hain? (Why are they being sold so cheap?) Believe ours got Rs 4cr up front and Rs 1cr a month for next 36 months of term. .... Honey plus Money," Moitra wrote, tagging Uddhav Thackeray and Sena UBT spokesperson Anil Desai's handle.
Apna Sapna Money Money!
— Sanjay Raut (@rautsanjay61) June 17, 2026
No no — Mahua ji,the Minimum Support Price is fixed at ₹50 crore per MP.(पचास खोके)
₹15 crore is just the advance.
Frankly, these people aren't even worth ₹50,000.
Their price has only gone up because of the Shiv Sena and TMC brand label. https://t.co/Srzjgg4DkX
Responding to Moitra's post, Raut stated, "Apna Sapna Money Money! (Our dream is money) No no — Mahua ji, the Minimum Support Price is fixed at Rs 50 crore per MP. Rs 15 crore is just the advance."
He further added, "Frankly, these people aren't even worth Rs 50,000. Their price has only gone up because of the Shiv Sena and TMC brand label."
The exchange comes amid the swirling "Operation Tiger" defection buzz, with seven Sena UBT Lok Sabha MPs reportedly in advanced talks to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
ALSO READ: Why Are Sena UBT MPs Unhappy With Uddhav Thackeray? Defection Buzz Explained
As reported earlier, the discontent within Sena UBT's parliamentary ranks has been attributed to multiple factors — MPs being unable to secure meetings with Uddhav Thackeray, the leadership's failure to visit their constituencies despite repeated requests, the absence of regular party meetings to address grievances, and a lack of financial support for local body elections.
Raut's "Rs 50 khoke" jibe is a reference to the term coined during the original 2022 Shiv Sena split, when "khoke" (slang for crores) became shorthand for allegations of money changing hands to engineer defections.
By invoking the phrase again, Raut appears to be drawing a direct parallel between the current buzz and the 2022 rebellion led by Eknath Shinde, even as he maintains that Sena UBT's MPs remain firmly with the party and that any rebellion will fall short of the numbers needed to succeed.
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