Click to play videoMumbai: Shiv Sena working president Uddhav Thackeray came out with flying colours in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, which was being seen as his acid test.
Uddhav Thackeray has shown his opponents that he cannot be written off so easily and his party believes that he is the latest comeback kid after Sachin Tendulkar.
"What Sachin Tendulkar is to cricket, Uddhav is to politics,” says Shiv Sena leader, Manohar Joshi.
Many Sainiks credit Uddhav with resurrecting the party’s flagging fortunes right from transforming a derelict Sena Bhavan to a swanky new office.
"This victory at the civic elections belongs to Uddhav saab,” Editor of the Sena mouthpiece, Saamna, Sanjay Raut says.
The victory was well timed, too, coming at a time when Uddhav's leadership abilities were being attacked.
The party also was in desperate need to prove to its critics that it could survive the rebellions within itself after the exit of Uddhav’s estranged cousin and President of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Raj Thackeray and former Sena member Narayan Rane.
However, Raj Thackeray is still not ready to accept Uddhav's political achievements.
“Balasaheb's two rallies and his emotional address led to the victory,” Raj Thackeray says.
It’s a marginal victory for the Saffron combine, Sena and the BJP, as they stake claim to the country's richest civic body with 111 seats but they still need to woo the independents in order to get a majority.
Silencing his critics wasn’t easy but Uddhav Thackeray has proved that his leadership has got the mettle to take Shiv Sena on the path of victory not just once but twice.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.