 "Aditya Thackeray changes tack as Shiv Sena heads for elections")
This is quite contrary to what his grandfather and former party supremo late Bal Thackeray used to prescribe for the party: 80 per cent social work and only 20 per cent politics.
Shiv Sena's departure from its traditional stand is seen as an effort to energise Sainiks who are still confused over party's functioning after the death of Thackeray senior and subsequent appointment of Uddhav as party president. Besides, there is unrest within the party for alleged neglect of the party organisation.
The ruling Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ridiculed Aditya's comment, saying it showed how the saffron party was "desperate and directionless".
<B>‘Uddhav to lead in polls’</B><BR>
Aditya also announed that his father and party president Uddhav Thackeray would lead the party in the elections. He hinted that Uddhav would be the chief minister if the Shiv Sena-BJP-RPI-Swabhimani Sehtkari Sanghatana alliance gets a majority in the coming Assembly elections. Aditya's announcement is important, as the party fears intra-party rivalaries would surface ahead of elections and also a division in traditional vote bank of Marathi manoos.
This is in the wake of Uddhav's estranged cousin and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's refusal to strike a pact with the Sena-led alliance. The Shiv Sena plans to step up its efforts to win back Marathi manoos, youths, OBCs and women.
Aditya and other party leaders were quick to add that Uddhav would lead the party's campaign and he won't be projected as the chief minister. However, party leaders said they were not at all surprised by Aditya's announcement, but would discuss the issue with Uddhav to find out whether he, unlike his father Bal Thackeray, was keen on taking up any post in the government or continue to lead the party from outside.
The Shiv Sena group leader in the Assembly, Subhash Desai, downplayed Aditya's announcement terming it "as extempore". ''We will sit and discuss the issue internally. Two elections to the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Legislative Assembly are slated in this year. So, naturally weightage is given for political work. So please do not read much into it,'' he said.
Congress spokesman Ratnakar Mahajan ridiculed Aditya's announcement and said, ''Politics is a part of social work. So, to differentiate social work from politics is like differentiating skin from the body. This was first pointed out by none other than Justice Ranade who said that political work and broader social reforms are complementary to each other and they can't be separated. By birth Shiv Sena is not a political party and, therefore, it does not have an all encompassing view of things. So, they will come across such hurdles as long they survive."
The NCP also criticised Aditya. NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said, ''Shiv Sena's politics of violence and fear psychosis is not giving them good results.''
The timing of Aditya's statement is quite crucial when Sena's over-two- decade-old electoral ally BJP was busy in charting out its poll strategy with the projection of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the party's prime ministerial candidate. On the other hand, the Congress, which was routed in recent Assembly elections to four states and was facing charges of corruption, has refused to announce Rahul Gandhi as party's PM candidate.