The question has bothered not only citizens, political analysts and Shiv Sainiks but also the former CM himself. Thackeray and Joshi have yet to meet since the exit drama on Saturday nor have they spoken to one another over the phone. Joshi would still like an answer but he is unlikely to ask Thackeray the question that everyone has been asking him. Contrary to his public posturing, Joshi was very hurt and anguished and continues to feel upset about the developments. Only to a select few, he expressed a shade of bitterness about the unceremonious manner of the exit. ``Even if he had to go, it could have been done in a better way. The same thing could have been told to him in a meeting,'' said a senior Sena leader.

The sentiment has found an echo among a wide cross-section of people including Sainiks. Joshi's office at Kohinoor Technical Institute -- which he visited for the first time today since laying down office -- ischoc-a-bloc with people who sympathise with him. A Sena delegation has come to offer sympathies all the way from Buldhana district. They wonder why the official bullet-proof car is still around. Joshi merely smiles.

Joshi has some tacit support from senior Sena leaders, but given the nature of the organisation, no one will come forward for the Fall Guy. Joshi waits for the jigsaw to be revealed fully. Till then, he will see all the Marathi plays he missed, catch up with Hindi films and spend time with his friends who did not see much of him in the last few years. Besides, there are flourishing businesses. ``I am still a senior leader of the Shiv Sena. That has some importance,'' he points out suggesting that it's not the end of political road yet. But if he is missing his sixth floor Mantralaya office, he shows no signs of it.