AT 36, Udhav Thackeray comes across as an unlikely heir to his tough-talking and mercurial father, Bal Thackeray. He is softspoken and moderate and the very antithesis of even his extrovert cousin, Raj. Udhav is the Shiv Sena chief's youngest son and possible political heir. But can he take over the reins of a party which needs a successor as forceful and dominating as his predecessor? That's a question that many Shiv Sena supporters find difficult to answer.
For the party woven around the fiery, dictatorial Thackeray, the choice of a successor seems to have narrowed down to Udhav. The other heir, Raj Thackeray—a clone of his uncle in looks, mannerism, speech and even in his penchant for warm Heine-ken beer and cartoon-drawing style—is mired in controversy after some close friends were arrested on a murder charge.
For quite some time Udhav has carefully disassociated himself from the scandals in which the Thackeray family has been dragged into. He has also kept away from the offices of Saamna , the party newspaper. Udhav now prefers to operate out of his father's bungalow 'Matoshri' in suburban Bandra. Looking to the future, Udhav has quietly dropped his earlier customary usage—"Raj and I". Now he envisages a future where the Sena will spread throughout the country. Says he: "When the party was born no one thought there would be a Sena chief minister one day. We are now establishing a presence in other states."
Udhav is the only son of Thackeray who took an active interest in politics—his elder brothers Jaidev and the late Bindu Madhav were more interested in business and films. With people streaming into the house to meet the Sena chief, Udhav's political initiation started early. He recalls: "The atmosphere was such and I was interested. I felt I could not remain in the house and look on while he (Bal Thackeray) shouldered the burden alone." His part of the burden actually started in January 1989, when he took charge of Saamna, playing more than the role of a trustee.
Raj Thackeray, who has headed the party's student wing—the Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena—since 1988, grew up in his uncle's household. His earliest memories are not of his father, music director Srikant, but of his uncle Bal, and aunt "Ma"—Meenatai, who is also his wife's sister. He evidently imbibed his uncle's lessons much more thoroughly than all his cousins did. And at one time, he even seemed to have an edge over cousin Udhav who lacked his kind of charisma.
Raj had once said of his uncle: "ye cheez hi alag hai. I have never felt him pulling me back for Udhav". That may have been a bit off the mark. Things may not be as rose-tinted, for as a Thackeray confidant puts it: "He (Thack-eray) wants to pass on the monarchy to Udhav. He sees Udhav as his political heir." In the newly renovated confines of the Sena chief's suburban bungalow, Thackeray's son is slowly building a base and seeking to show that a militant party can have a moderate head.
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