He is the joker in the pack. A cartoonist like his uncle Bal Thackeray, Raj was expected to take over the party reins from him. While son Uddhav is no patch on Bal Thackeray, Raj is the closest to a photocopy - looks wise, style wise and temperament wise.
Surprisingly, it was not enough for the senior Thackeray, who chose to anoint Uddhav as the heir-apparent. Though the cousins deny it, the general perception is that they do not get along where politics is concerned.
Raj had been keeping a relatively low profile since 1999, when the Sena was voted out of power, but recently got the rumour mills moving by revealing that he would like to be the chief minister, though not in the immediate future.
Whatever the outcome of this election, a lot of people in and outside the Sena will eagerly await the next episode of this family soap opera.
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