Mumbai: Thackeray resident "Matoshree" was once considered as the power centre of all the political developments in Maharashtra. Be it in the time of any political crisis, the upscale bungalow of Bandra (East) Kalanagar, served as the key venue of major political meetings.
Once upon a time, in the era of Shiv Sena patriarch, Bal Thackeray, heavyweight politicians like - Lal Krishna Advani, Sharad Pawar and Sushma Swaraj had shown up at the Thackeray doorstep to have a dialogue with the party chief.
Former President, Pranab Mukherjee came at Matoshree to seek support from the Thackerays, for the presidential elections. Moreover, when Uddhav took over the reins, he made it clear to the BJP alliance leaders, they should go to Matoshree, to keep his edge in the talks.
There was a time when Nitin Gadkari disliked going to Matoshree and Uddhav declined meeting him, saying he preferred someone more senior.
But in the last few days the picture has changed. Sena chief, Uddhav Thackeray has been seen going in and out of Matoshree and holding meeting at plush hotels with leaders of Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) once considered as the arch-rival of the Senas.
For the first time in the political history of Sena, major political meetings and had took place outside Matoshree.
What's more noticeable is, this never happened during the thirty years of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Sena alliance. Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, earlier in May, BJP president, Amit shah came to meet Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshree.
Uddhav has been meeting leaders of both Congress-NCP at the venues, decided by them. Earlier on Monday, Uddhav's meeting with NCP chief Sharad Pawar took place at Taj hotel, Bandra which is a 20 minute drive from Matoshree.
"Pawar insisted to meet at a neutral venue instead of Matoshree. The similar thing repeated on Wednesday when senior Congress leaders again met Uddhav at Trident hotel Bandra, where they held an hour long meeting, again on a neutral ground," said a leader close to the Sena.
On Thursday, late in the evening, Sena leaders who once used to take pride in doing everything openly in broad daylight, held a secret meeting with leaders of Congress-NCP at the conference room of an Bandra educational institute.
Reportedly, Uddhav also met Congress leader Ahmed Patel, known as the voice of Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi at a city hotel on Tuesday night. However, Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut later shrugged the reports.
Probably for the first time in the entire history of Sena, leaders from a different party is calling the shots.
After the BJP denied it's will to form the government without the Sena, which many considered as a political masterstroke has left Sena in the situation of an unwanted predicament.
Uddhav is now all hell bent to earn the trust and support of the opposition leaders, whom his father was once hell bent in opposing.
Even it is also revealed to formulate a coalition, Uddhav is ready to shed the Hindutva ideology of his party, which was one of the founding principles of Sena.
However Sena has also changed it's working style. The party which believed in the "Remote Control" system of power, for the first time had fielded a Thackeray scion in the name of Aaditya who became an elected Legislator from the Worli constituency.
