In a sensational claim, the Shiv Sena (UBT) alleged on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, that the 2022 collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra was orchestrated through a sinister plot involving hidden cameras and a Pegasus-like surveillance system to honeytrap MLAs and MPs. An editorial in the Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana stated that at least 18 MLAs and four MPs from the undivided Shiv Sena and NCP were blackmailed into defecting to the BJP to protect their reputations.

The editorial highlighted accusations by Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, a former Leader of the Opposition, who claimed that Central agencies, backed by a sophisticated Israeli spyware system akin to Pegasus, were used to trap MVA legislators. It alleged that even police conducted surveillance on opposition leaders. When evidence of this honeytrapping was handed to Eknath Shinde on a pen drive, he led a group of MLAs to Surat, Guwahati, and Goa, triggering the 2022 Shiv Sena split that toppled the MVA government.

Saamana claimed Shinde initially had support from only nine or ten MLAs but gained numbers through blackmail orchestrated by then-opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis and the home department. The editorial demanded the sacking of state cabinet ministers Sanjay Shirsat, Yogesh Kadam, Dada Bhuse, and NCP’s Manik Kokate, alleging some were among those honeytrapped. It further suggested that the conduct of certain ministers points to an imminent cabinet reshuffle in Maharashtra.

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These explosive allegations paint a dramatic picture of political subterfuge, likening the episode to a suspense thriller, and have reignited debates about the ethics of political maneuvering in the state.

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