Omraje Nimbalkar, one of the six rebel Shiv Sena (UBT) parliamentarians, said on Friday that his association with the opposition was hurting his fight for justice for his murdered father, leaving him with no option but to switch sides.
Nimbalkar was among six of the nine Shiv Sena (UBT) Lok Sabha members, who defied a whip and skipped a meeting of its parliamentary wing on Thursday, as the party appeared set to lose two-thirds of its strength in Parliament’s Lower House.
A two-time Lok Sabha member from Maharashtra’s Dharashiv (Osmanabad), Nimbalkar said he joined politics to seek justice for his father, Pawanraje Nimbalkar.
Former National Congress Party (NCP) minister Padmasingh Patil, 86, is one of the accused in the case. Patil’s son, Rana Jagjit Singh Patil, is a ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator, and deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar is his half-sister.
Omraje Nimbalkar said his association with the opposition weakened his ability to continue his fight because the Patils have the BJP’s support. “I joined politics 20 years ago to fight against those who killed my father. Now it is becoming difficult to fight alone. The ruling side blocked me at every level in the constituency.”
Omraje Nimbalkar said people will call him a traitor, but he will have to choose responsibility over loyalty. “So I have no option but to switch sides for political survival and continue my fight against that political family,” Nimbalkar said.
Omraje Nimbalkar said he is awaiting a trial court verdict on June 20 in his father’s murder case. He added that the verdict was postponed twice. Omraje Nimbalkar said after the verdict, he will tour Dharashiv district to meet his workers and supporters and announce his decision.
He said that had he been greedy for money and power, he would have joined deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena when he rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray in 2022. “I am not going for any greed but out of compulsion to be politically relevant in Dharashiv district and continue my fight against that family even after joining the ruling alliance.”
Nimbalkar’s father, Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar, and his driver, Samad Abdul Wahid Kazi, were murdered while they were on their way from Pune to Mumbai in June 2006.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said Omraje Nimbalkar has been promised a favourable verdict against all nine accused.
Pawanraje Nimbalkar and Padmasinh Patil were first cousins. Their family dominated the politics of Osmanabad in Marathwada through cooperative bodies. Nimbalkar lost the 2004 assembly elections against his cousin from Osmanabad narrowly.
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