Uddhav's son, 17, takes his first political lessons

Active netizen, a right-hand batsman who represents his school in the competitive world of Mumbai's school cricket, and a poet.

Son of Shiv Sena Working President Uddhav Thackeray, Aditya aged 17, was spotted at the party's recent rally against the repeal of the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (ULCRA). His participation has fuelled speculation in political circles that he is being groomed to take over his father's mantle.

This seems a continuation of the trend towards a lowering of the the age of political carrer launches in Maharashtra . Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar launched his daughter, who is in the mid-thirties, by nominating her for the Rajya Sabha last year.

In 2004, son of Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, Milind Deora, made his political debut at 28 by winning the South Mumbai seat.

Daughter of late Pramod Mahajan, Poonam Rao, who is in her mid-twenties, was recently made general secretary of the BJP's state youth wing, Union Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's daughter, Praniti, acts as his father's constituency manager while state Revenue Minister Narayan Rane's sons, Nilesh and Nitesh, are being promoted as youth leaders.

Thackeray Jr, who nurses an ambition for a career in international law, has not yet revealed his intention to join active politics.

But for the last one-and-a-half years, he has been spotted accompanying his father to various party rallies and public functions, even though he has always preferred to watch the proceedings from among the crowds.

But last week's protest march was different because Aditya, like other Sena activists, participated and walked the full 5-km distance between the Sena's headquarters in central Mumbai and the district collector's office.

There have also been conscious efforts in the last year or so to build up his image. The release of the collection of his poems, White & Black, by his grandfather and Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, got good press, so did the exhibition cricket match between a team of Sena leaders, led by Aditya, and artistes from the Marathi theatre, film and television world.

Party spokesman and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut denies that Aditya is being groomed for joining politics.