Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray's life and political journey (In pics)

New Delhi: Bala Saheb Thackeray's demise had orphaned the entire rank and profile of Shiv Sena as he was the person who was the source of the inspiration for the party's cadre.More than the party cadre, it was Tackeray junior, Uddhav, who lost everything all of a sudden with the passing away of Bala Saheb. Uddhav owed everything in politics to his father, the indomitable Bal Thackeray.Everybody expected Raj Thackeray, cousin of Uddhav, to emerge as the political heir to Bala Saheb but Thackeray anointed his own son ignoring the aspirations of his nephew who, according to political observers, was the more deserving candidate given his natural connect with the party cadre. Uddhav Thackrey with wife Rashmi Tahckrey at ShirdiWith Bala Saheb firmly standing behind him, Uddhav faced no political challenge as far as Shiv Sena support base was concerned. But the death of Bala Saheb changed the entire equation.After Bala Saheb's death, Uddhav had to face challenges from two sides – Raj Thackeray on one hand and the coalition partner BJP on the other hand.Raj started positioning himself as the true heir to Bala Saheb's legacy while BJP which hitherto had played second fiddle to Shiv Sena given the larger-than-life persona of Bala Saheb Thackeray .Raj Thackeray changed his strategy after his party MNS was decimated in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Uddhav Thackrey with wife Rashmi and son Aditya at an award functionLearning from Narendra Modi's success story wherein he projected himself and enchased his own person image so much that the BJP won a comfortable majority on its own in the general elections.Raj has declared himself to be the Chief Ministerial candidate of his party.Like Modi, he wants to electorally encash his popularity amongst youths of the state.Raj's change of strategy has forced even Shiv Sena to change his strategy and Sanjay Raut, Sena MP, lost no time in declaring Uddhav the CM candidate of Shiv Sena although no formal announcement has been made in this regard till this date. The BJP, on the other hand, is in no mood to declare Uddhav as the CM candidate of the alliance after the party's spectacular performance in the state in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. BJP is bargaining for higher number of seats for itself and has said that the CM candidate should be from the party that wins largest number of seats.Whatever be the case, Uddhav Thackeray will definitely be one of the topmost contenders for the CM post in Maharashtra.Uddhav will be celebrating his 54th birthday on 27 July 2014. It's time to take a look at the life and journey of Uddhav Thackeray. Uddhav Thackrey with wife Rashmi at his father's funeralUddhav loves to write and he is a published author and a professional photographer. His work has been published in many magazines of repute.Before he was given the responsibility of handling the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation in 2002, Uddhav was not known to have any interest in politics. He was known for being more interested in writing and wildlife photography.After Shiv Sena won the BMC elections in 2002, Uddhav came into limelight of politics and impressed with his leadership qualities, Bala Saheb declared Uddhav as the no. 2 in the party. In one sense, Bala Saheb had declared the line of succession shattering the ambitions of Raj Thackeray. Uddhav Thackrey with wife at Durga temple offering prayersIt's worth recalling that despite being declared as the “Pramukh” of the party, the actual command of Shiv Sena was still in the hands of Balasaheb Thackeray. It was after BalaSaheb's deatrh in 2013 that Uddhav finally became the true supremo of Shiv Sena.Uddhav Thackeray is married to Rashmi and the couple has two sons – Aditya and Tejas. Uddhav is suffering from heart ailments and in 2012; he was admitted to Lilavati Hospital after he reported chest pain. He had to undergo angioplasty and all the three blockages in his arteries were successfully removed.His two of the most popular published books are - Maharashtra Desh (2010) and Pahava Vitthal (2011). He has captured various aspects of Maharashtra and the varkaris during Pandharpur Yatra respectively in the two books. Uddhav may not have the spark of Raj Thackeray but he has also proved his leadership qualities whenever he was entrusted with a responsibility.In addition to winning BMC elections for the party in 2002, Uddhav organized a successful debt relief campaign for the farmers of the Vidarbha district of Maharashtra. Farmers of the region were under heavy debt following a long dry spell in that part. Things had turned so bad that suicide rates among the farmers had touched almost the roof.Under these circumstances, Uddhav Thackeray stepped in and put a lot of efforts for improving their conditions when the state and central governments failed to make a difference. In 2012, he led the Shiv Sena-BJP campaign in BMC elections. Under his leadership, BJP and Shiv Sena emerged as the largest parties in these elections. Uddhav Thackeray for the first time changed his focus from identity politics to politics of development. It was not easy for a party that had always made the slogan of ‘Marathi Manoos' its guiding political philosophy.Political observers also point out that under Uddhav Thackeray's leadership, Shiv Sena has shunned violence to a larger extent and now they are paying more attention to the issues relation to the poor and working class of the society. Not many people would agree with this view point because a few days back Shiv Sena MPs shocked everybody by forcing a fasting Muslim employee of Maharshtra Sadan to eat chapatti although they pointed out later on that they were not aware of his religion.Even Uddhav Thackeray did not condemn the action of his MPS. On the contrary, he asked a counter question – why media is not paying attention to the incidents of rape by Muslims in the holy month of Ramzan.This incident reminds that nothing much has changed either for Shiv Sena or his party workers and MPs. It is also possible that Uddhav might have said all this believing that attack is the best defence. Since Congress attacked Shiv Sena to hilt on this issue with an eye on Muslim vote bank, Uddhav might have responded in the same coin so that he could also consolidate his own vote-bank.