MUMBAI: Rebel Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Omraje Nimbalkar, the last of the six to join the breakaway group, said on Friday that the move was crucial to keep up the fight against rivals in the extended family, allegedly responsible for the killing of his father Pawanraje Nimbalkar. The main accused in the case is his uncle and former NCP minister Padamasinh Patil whose son Rana Jagjitsinh is now a BJP MLA.I aligned with Sena for political survival to fight my father’s killer: Omraje Nimbalkar“The governing coalition obstructed my efforts at every turn. I was compelled to take this decision to counter the might of the rivals who are strongly backed by the ruling BJP,” Nimbalkar told HT, adding that he will make his stand (on defection) clear after the verdict in his father’s murder case on June 20.A Congress leader at the time, Pawanraje Nimbalkar was shot dead in Navi Mumbai when he was travelling from Pune to Mumbai on June 3, 2006. His driver Samad Abdul Wahid Kazi was also killed. Twenty years later, a special CBI court’s verdict in the case was expected on Tuesday but postponed to June 20.Two days ago, Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut alleged that Omraje Nimbalkar was promised a favourable verdict, and indeed leaders were hopeful that Nimbalkar, who was a strong critic of the Shinde-led faction, calling them traitors in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, would attend the party’s meeting on Thursday. However, he did not turn up, indicating his leaning toward the breakaway group of MPs.On Friday, Nimbalkar confirmed that he was exiting Sena (UBT) to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, “not driven by greed for money, for if that were the case, I would have moved when the Sena split in 2022.”“I joined politics 20 years ago to fight against those who killed my father; and through those years I fought a legal and political battle against that family in Dharashiv. I have no complaint against Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray. I won the Lok Sabha election by a huge margin against the resourceful and powerful candidate from the rival family. We also retained our strength in the assembly elections,” Nimbalkar said. “But the new government in Maharashtra has blocked me at all levels.”Nimbalkar claimed all his proposals for development works had been stalled and no financial provision was made for routine works in his constituency, as a result of which citizens turned away from him during the local body election. “I could not win even a single panchayat samiti. The voters who led me to victory during the Lok Sabha polls rejected my candidates in local body polls. I will be uprooted from my own parliamentary constituency. It’s not possible to fight alone with inadequate resources against a resourceful rival faction. I have no option but to switch sides.”He emphasised that once pushed out of the race, he will lose the fight against Patils.The enmity between Nimbalkars and Patils is well documented in Maharashtra politics. While Omraje Nimbalkar has been fighting for justice for his father’s death for 20 years, he is also a sworn rival of the Patils in Dharashiv district.He entered the political fray after his father’s murder in 2006 and contested against his cousin Rana Jagjitsinh in the 2009 Assembly election. While Nimbalkar was a novice, Rana was a well-salted NCP minister. Yet, as a Shiv Sena candidate he defeated Rana, although he was defeated by Rana in the 2014 Assembly election. The fight between the two surfaced yet again in the 2019 general election when Uddhav Thackeray fielded him for Lok Sabha, in which he defeated Rana. As a Sena (UBT) candidate, Nimbalkar won yet again in 2024 -- this time defeating Rana’s wife Archana Patil who contested on an NCP ticket.Despite sitting firm in the saddle, Nimbalkar admitted that navigating his relationship with the Patils had become a challenge without the backing of a party in power.“It is a tough fight without a support system. How do I support my local leaders and candidates? I cannot work without them or contest elections. How do I face the public without delivering on promises of electricity and other infra,” he said, adding that while chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the two deputy chief ministers worked hard to support the local leadership, his own his party’s leadership chose to stay away.Aware of the consequence of his latest move, Nimbalkar said: “I know people will criticise and troll me on social media, but I have to choose my responsibility and aim in life over loyalty.”