Click to play videoMumbai: With less than a month to go for the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Shiv Sena has decided to unveil its trump card and party supremo Bal Thackeray.
Struggling with health problems and not in a position to campaign, Bal Thackeray has now given an interview to a Sena mouthpiece, designed to enthuse the party cadres and take on estranged nephew Raj Thackeray.
At 84 years, he may be frail, but Bal Thackeray did not hold back in his first political interview in over a year, calling former Shiv Sena leader turned Congressman Narayan Rane a gangster.
"I made a gangster the chief minister of Maharashtra. He himself told me had he not been the CM he would have been killed in an encounter," Thackeray said.
The interview, organised by the Sena ahead of the Maharashtra elections, also saw Thackeray make a veiled attack on his nephew Raj, who has been spearheading the anti-North Indian agitation in Mumbai.
When asked that he had gone to jail for the Marathi cause, Thackeray replied, "Thrice. I did not come out on bail like it happens today. I didn't even ask for bail."
That the senior Thackeray has chosen to attack Raj is not surprising as political observes believe that Raj Thackeray could split the Sena's traditional votebank in Mumbai and Thane which could make all the difference between victory and defeat.
The Sena supremo made it clear that it was his son Uddhav and not nephew who was his true heir.
"After Uddhav took over I have been relieved. Now I have time for myself, but my health is suffering, so I do have to be careful," he said.
It is still not clear if Thackeray will campaign. But for now, the Sena seems keen to remind their cadres of his presence.
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