New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) With the Congress reacting positively to feelers from Bal Thackarey’s daughter-in-law Smita Thackarey to join the party, a stunned Shiv Sena went into a damage control mode Saturdday with the party’s executive president Uddhav Thackeray refraining from openly commenting on the issue.
Reacting to Smita’s interview to a newspaper, he said he will comment if she announces a decision. However, he indicated that everyone could take his or her own decision.

“I will continue doing my work,” Uddhav, who is Smita’s brother-in-law, said.

Though Smita, in her interview, made no secret of her intention to join the Congress, her son Rahul was circumspect.

He told reporters in Mumbai that his mother was not involved in any power struggle and wanted to to move forward in politics but the Shiv Sena did not give an adequate response to her desire. He also added that his mother had not left the Shiv Sena and her options were open.

The development has further hit the Shiv Sena’s morale at a time when it is fighting a turf war with Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and has fared poorly in last month’s assembly polls.

The Congress was expectedly happy over the turn of events and offered a conditional entry keeping in view any glitches in the crossing over.

Party spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said the central leadership will have no problems in admitting her “if her name is cleared by the party’s Maharashtra unit”.

“I am happy to learn that like the common people of the country, members of the Thackeray family are also expressing faith in the party’s policies and in its leaders,” he said.

Ahmed said Smita Thackeray had shown wisdom in distancing herself from the “divisive” politics of the Shiv Sena. “It is a belated decision, but a correct one,” Ahmed maintained.

Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) president Kripa Shankar Singh said there has been no formal indication from Smita Thackeray to join the Congress.

In her interview, Smita Thackeray said she admired Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi and desired to be part of the good work being done by the party.

She claimed that she was being sidelined by a coterie in Matoshree, the Sena chief’s residence in Bandra, and was being denied her due in the party.

She also alleged that she was promised a berth in the Rajya Sabha last year, but at the last minute it was given to senior journalist Bharat Kumar Raut.

Expressing her frustration, Smita - the estranged wife of Bal Thackeray’s son Jaidev - said that she was feeling stifled and “suffocated” in Matoshree.

Smita, who loves to dabble with Bollywood and has produced a couple of Hindi films like “Haseena Maan Jayegi”, had grown into a power centre during the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule 1995-99.

She continued to live in Matoshree with the Thackeray family though her husband Jaidev had left the household several years ago.

However, a few years ago, she moved into a separate bungalow in Juhu as it kept her close to the hub of Bollywood.

If and when Smita joins the Congress, she will be the second member of the Thackeray clan to exit the Shiv Sena. Raj Thackeray, once considered his uncle Bal Thackeray’s political heir, had split from the Shiv Sena and formed the MNS in 2006 due to differences with Uddhav Thackeray and being sidelined on major decisions like distribution of election tickets.

Prior to Raj Thackeray, several top Sena leaders like Chhagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane and Sanjay Nirupam had also left the party.