In mid-90s, Raj was heading for the top job. When it came to the crunch in2001, Thackeray chose Uddhav, finally anointing him working president. Raj,caught on the back foot then in a murder case, couldn’t really complain.Uddhav had the throne but the real power behind the throne would always be withhim, or so he would have thought, because Uddhav was such a novice, not a true"Shiv Sainik". That may have been the script but the reality turnedout different. Uddhav asserted his own style and agenda which was unlike that ofthe old Sena: He aspired to make the party more acceptable, he wanted debates ondevelopments and issues, he called for inclusiveness (Mumbaikar, not Marathimanus) that Sainiks had never heard of before. Raj’s politics, agenda andmethods did not fit in anywhere. Eventually, Raj himself did not. Also, Uddhavrealized that he could not be secure as long as he depended on Raj for hispolitics. The battle for supremacy finally drove a wedge between the two.Whenever Raj sulked - at least thrice earlier - Thackeray would broker a trucebut essentially for public consumption. For his own political future, Raj hasexercised his last option - war on Uddhav.