Raj to Uddhav: I will drive you home... we'll go into the open and together

Headed for Alibaugh, some 140 km from Mumbai, last Monday, MNS chief Raj Thackeray was close to his destination when his mobile phone rang. It was Bal Thackeray on the other end.

"Where are you?" the Shiv Sena chief asked, sounding grim and urgent. When Raj said he was near Alibaugh, Thackeray told him: "Dadu (Uddhav Thackeray) has chest pain and we are admitting him to hospital... Everybody is going there... You also rush back."

And that was it. The estranged uncle had reached out to his rebel nephew and the latter didn't think twice before responding. "Don't worry, I am coming back," Raj said, turning around and heading straight to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai. There, say Sena sources, Raj sat holding Uddhav's hand.

In the bitter break-up that the Thackeray family had seen, this was an unusual moment. The cousins were joined by Raj's mother Kunda and wife Sharmila. Kunda and Uddhav's mother Meena are sisters, while Raj's father Shrikant was Bal Thackeray's younger brother.

After half-an-hour at the hospital, Raj left but returned at around 4.30 pm. "I will drive you home," Raj told Uddhav. "And we will not drive away from the basement... We will go into the open and together... Let everybody see this."

When they did emerge, Raj at the wheel, it was a scene reminiscent of old times, when the two would often travel together. While Uddhav will turn 52 this month, Raj is eight years younger.

Back at Matoshree, they were greeted by celebrating party workers. An overwhelmed Bal Thackeray blessed Raj. The family together, the nephew who had walked out of the Sena in 2006 saying it was being run by "petty clerks", asked for some coffee.

Raj and Uddhav are expected to meet on Thursday to decide "what to do next". While a merger may be early yet, observers believe the cousins have finally buried the hatchet and are unlikely to fight each other.

ALSO READ

Karnataka: 69% polling recorded, searing heat affects voter turnout

After high-pitch campaign, stage set for Karnataka polls tomorrow

Railways bribery case: UPA a govt of dealers, brokers and middlemen, says Oppn

Kapil Sibal's black humour: 'Laboratory for Corruption', 'Corruption Made Easy'