When he takes oath as Maharashtra's nineteenth chief minister this evening, Uddhav Thackeray will complete a political journey that has been far removed from his firebrand father's in every way. Not only will he become the first Thackeray to directly hold the reins of power in his own hands, he will have also achieved it in his own understated way.

It is to his immense credit that, over the last seven years, he has not let comparisons to the late Bal Thackeray influence his political ways and mannerisms. A photography student from the Sir JJ School of Arts who then ran an advertising agency, Uddhav's early years were spent away from the rough and tumble of state politics. Not till a power struggle inside the family threatened to consume the party did he take the political plunge 20 years ago, and even that was under the protective shadow of his father. His initial role was to assist the father, till he was made party working president in 2003.