National
Thackeray settles for his son as successor?
By Mahesh Vijapurkar
MUMBAI, JAN. 22. It was expected that the Shiv Sena leader, Bal Thackeray, would anoint his successor on January 23, his 75th birthday, and announce it, but such a formality is now not to be.
However, he has more or less made it clear by his actions, and not words, who his choice is: son Uddhav Thackeray and not his nephew Raj Thackeray.
There is a reason why the formality may have been put on hold. Given the difficult times the party is passing through, with not so impressive political gains and the all-important control of the State Government lost to a welter of political parties and the willingness, though not on a massive scale, of some party cadres to hear a different drummer this is no time to give room for cracks in the party, according to a source.
Uddhav Thackeray, with his penchant for photography and travel, in a quiet but assertive way, is in a position to influence decisions more than his cousin.
Sensing the mood in the party, the Shiv Sena leader apparently made it known that he was not for a birthday bash and said he preferred to spend it with his family away from Mumbai.
The recent outburst of Raj Thackeray - that the partisan behaviour of those close to the boss had robbed his followers of potential gains in the party - was aimed at his cousin, whose popularity is on the rise.
He rushed to his uncle with the grievance that his men were sidelined during ticket distribution to civic elections now under way. He made it known that all was not well within the party. But he has chosen to remain with it despite the alleged overtures from some rival political parties.
Uddhav Thackeray has not got into a slanging match on this, mainly because he feels secure about his position. In his newspaper, the Sena leader today said the fact that his son was staying with him, unlike his nephew who lived in his own plush apartment in central Mumbai, made a difference because of the constant interaction between father and son. ``If Raj was here, he too would have got this advantage.''
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