Nobody can create a rift between Raj and Uddhav, at least no one is born till date who can keep them apart, Bal Thackeray had said on October 9, 2004.
MUMBAI: Nobody can create a rift between Raj and Uddhav, at least no one is born till date who can keep them apart, this is what Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had said while addressing a mammoth public meeting in Thane district on October 9, 2004.
Three years later, in the same month and in the same city Sena Chief's nephew Raj Thackeray addressing party workers, made a stunning disclosure saying that he had parted ways with the Sena, as they had conspired to kill him when he was leaving the circuit house at Sindhudurg district while laying the blame on Narayan Rane of masterminding the attack.
This statement by Raj was like a bolt from the blue for Bal Thackeray.
"I cannot believe he (Raj) could stoop so low. At a time when he was facing murder charges in the (Ramesh) Kini case, it was Shiv Sena and (cousin) Uddhav which stood by him, but today the same Raj is accusing the Thackeray family of trying to kill him, which is unfortunate," the 80-year-old Sena patriarch said in a sharp retort in the Sena mouthpiece, 'Saamna'.
Uddhav is son of Bal Thackeray.
Now, the Shiv Sena has put up huge hoardings in different parts of Mumbai with life size picture of Bal Thackeray carrying this comment about how Raj has stooped so low. These hoardings carry the full text of Bal Thackeray's write-up on Raj that has appeared in 'Saamna'.
Reacting to Raj's comment, senior Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi has said MNS chief Raj Thackeray never mentioned the alleged plot to kill him in Sindhudurg district, during his last meeting with Sena chief Bal Thackeray before parting ways two years ago.
"I was present when both of them met last time and there was no reference to this allegation which has come after a gap of two years. Why did he wait for so long to make such a serious charge against Shiv Sena?" Joshi asked, while addressing mediapersons in Pune.
Raj, who was once number three in the hierarchy in the Shiv Sena had parted ways with the party after simmering differences with his cousin Uddhav.
Feeling continuously being sidelined in Shiv Sena, Raj finally bid goodbye to the party after the differences turned acrimonious. He resigned from the party in December 2005 after blaming his cousin Uddhav and his companions of ruining the Shiv Sena. He then floated his own party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
Raj started his career in politics as a youth-wing leader in the Shiv Sena. He steadily went up the ranks with his charisma. Once seen as the number two in the party after his uncle Bal Thackeray, he was once the blue-eyed boy of the patriarch.
Having imbibed the mannerisms of his uncle, the looks and the knack for public speaking, Raj was considered to be a clone of Bal Thackeray. But things changed drastically when Uddhav came in the scene in a big way relegating Raj to the sidelines.
Raj finally launched his new party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, at a packed hall in South Mumbai on March 9 2005.
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