Newsmaker: Uddhav Thackeray, the soft-spoken 'tiger', is no pushover

Though lacking the charisma and the firebrand style of his father, Uddhav has not only steadied the Sena ship but has also shown flexibility in tactics

It was a vindication of sorts for Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, 57, when BJP President Amit Shah met him last week to mollify the ‘Tiger’, who only days before had dubbed the ruling party his biggest political enemy.

This has sent out at least one message: That Thackeray, often described as a “soft (spoken) leader of a hardline Hindutva party” is no pushover. Uddhav’s surprise move last month to field a Sena candidate in the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll delivered a blow to the BJP, which scraped through in a seat it had won by more than 200,000 votes