Every animal has its own core characteristics. To alter those even slightly, it takes several millennia. Sometimes, entire species get wiped out trying to change too rapidly, adjust too fast.

After the death of the Shiv Sena founder-patriarch Bal Thackeray, the younger Thackerays tried to change overnight to opportunistically cling on to power. The metaphorical tiger of Maharashtra politics sought to replace its apex predator canines with an anteater’s snout.

After being routed in the state civic elections — especially losing control of the cash-rich BMC — the party faces an existential crisis despite estranged cousins Uddhav and Raj putting up the pretence of unity to navigate desperate times. They failed.

The results conclusively prove that Maharashtrians no longer look at the Thackerays as their representative voice. They believe, and the BJP and the NDA actually deliver for them, instead of a family just posturing as Marathi manoos, while........

© News18