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Mumbai: Taking the first steps towards rejuvenation,
Uddhav Thackeray, has asked his loyal Sainiks to spot
silent supporters of separated Sainiks — Raj Thackeray
and Narayan Rane, still present in some quarters of
the Sena. This move is seen as a strategy for the Civic
Elections in 2007.
In public, however, Uddhav Thackeray has insisted that
the departures of Rane and cousin Raj will not disturb
the party. The BMC polls, that are more than one year
away, will most certainly be a decisive factor in measuring
his leadership skills. Sources report that the aim behind
recognizing the Raj and Rane cohorts is to rule out
all possibilities of sabotage at the time of the elections.
Uddhav is, reportedly, also weighing all options to
retain the hold at the BMC.
Though the Sena has shared a long lasting and healthy
partnership with the BJP, it is open to ascertaining
the best alliances, sources state. Following the walk
out of two prominent mass-appealing leaders, Uddhav
has also demanded that his men find out whether the
Hindutva ideology will ring a bell among the vote bank.
Those who are supposedly compiling the report include,
Leader of the House, Prabhakar Shinde; Standing Committee
chairman, Sunil Prabhu; Mayor Datta Dalvi; BEST Committee
chairman Surendra Bagalkar.
Meanwhile, Bal Thackeray has cancelled his plans of
a family vacation in Mahabaleshwar, following Raj Thackeray’s
split with the party. Sources also say that the extreme
cold weather conditions also forced the trip to be called
off. The temperature in Mahabaleshwar has dropped down
to 5 degrees Celsius. The eighty-year-old Thackeray,
has undergone a bypass surgery in the past faces difficulty
in the cold weather conditions. The trip was given up
as “it wouldn’t look good to take off on
a vacation while the party is in trouble,” the
sources added.
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