Concern over Bal Thackeray's health, Uddhav meets Sena MPs

Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray has called a meeting of party MPs and legislators on Friday afternoon amid reports of Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray's deteriorating health.

A meeting of Sena MPs is usually held ahead of a parliamentary session, but the winter session of Parliament is almost three weeks away, so there is speculation over the reasons for the meeting.

The meeting assumes significance after media reports expressed concern about the 85-year-old Bal Thackeray's condition.

However, talking to reporters after the meeting, Uddhav said Friday's meeting had nothing to do with his father's health and it was held as per schedule. "The meeting was preplanned and not an emergency meeting," he said.

In response to a query, Uddhav said, "Everyone is worried about Shiv Sena chief's health," and added, "he is receiving medical treatment."

Bal Thackeray, who founded the Shiv Sena in 1966, has not been keeping well for some time.

At the Sena's Dussehra rally in Mumbai last week, he addressed party workers via a recorded video message, asking them to support his son Uddhav and grandson Aditya.

'I have collapsed physically... I can't walk... I am tired,' Bal Thackeray had said in what was seen by many as an indication of his retirement from public life.

On Thursday, Thackeray's nephew, Raj, who broke away from the Sena and formed the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in 2006, met his uncle, his fourth meeting in as many months.