Riding the Tiger
On November 28, more than a month after the results of the assembly election were declared on October 24 and following a week of high political drama, Uddhav Thackeray became the first in his family to become the chief minister of Maharashtra. He left the BJP, the Shiv Sena's ally of 30 years, bargaining for two and a half years of chief ministership, and ended up winning a full term with the help of his political rivals of 30 years, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, under the aegis of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA). The momentousness of the occasion was evident, as an emotional Thackeray told the gathering of 165 MVA lawmakers in Mumbai: Those I worked with for 30 years betrayed me, but those I fought for 30 years showed trust in me.
It hasn't been easy by any means so far, and
