India, Feb. 14 -- Eknath Shinde hit the Shiv Sena (UBT) where it hurts by inducting Rajan Salvi into his camp on Thursday. But more than stealing a senior Sena (UBT) leader, the Shiv Sena chief appears to have signalled the launch of 'Operation Tiger' - his campaign to poach leaders from the rival Sena (UBT), a strategic move ahead of local body elections in Maharashtra later this year.

Fuelling this suspicion, four of the Sena (UBT)'s eight MPs were spotted mingling with the Shinde-led Sena in Delhi earlier this week. Three of them attended a dinner hosted by Sena Union minister Prataprao Jadhav on Wednesday. Another MP, Sanjay Patil, attended an event that has caused much heartburn in the Sena (UBT) camp - Shinde's felicitation by NCP ...