Uddhav Thackeray’s response to the Supreme Court verdict holding Ram Lalla the title holder of the disputed land was rather 'subdued'. (Photo: Getty Images)

Hindutva prevented the Congress and the NCP from reaching an early agreement with the Shiv Sena to keep the BJP out of power in Maharashtra. Hindutva had been the cement that bound the Shiv Sena and the BJP together for 35 years despite intense rivalry for same vote bank.

Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray said this many a time. Current Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray too admitted this. In April this year during Lok Sabha election, Uddhav Thackray underscored the importance of Hindutva in an interview to party mouthpiece Saamana. He told Saamana editor Sanjay Raut, a key functionary in the Shiv Sena, "Like before, Hindutva is the thread that binds the BJP and the Shiv Sena together."

When the two parties quarreled over the post of chief minister after Maharashtra Assembly election gave the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance comfortable majority of 161 seats in the 288-member house, Hindutva emerged as the biggest stumbling rock on the path of an alliance with the NCP and the Congress - the only other alternative available to Uddhav Thackeray if he intended to make his dream of having a Sena chief minister come true.

Uddhav Thackeray responded in a very subtle manner. His party leaders were suddenly seen "revealing" to journalists that Uddhav Thackeray had always been against the idea of a Shiv Sena-BJP alliance.

It was claimed -- and also carried in some of the Maharashtra-based publications - that Uddhav Thackeray had told Bal Thackeray way back in 1989 that the Shiv Sena should not tie up with the BJP. And, now that he is the Shiv Sena boss himself, Uddhav is not ready to compromise any further. This theory helps the Shiv Sena establish anti-BJP face of Uddhav Thackeray.

The Ayodhya verdict from the Supreme Court, however, created a dilemma for Uddhav Thackeray. For the past one year, he had been very vocal about early construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Pending Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya title suit, Uddhav Thackeray even demanded that the Narendra Modi government should bring a law for construction of Ram temple.

By the time the Supreme Court pronounced its judgment on November 9 clearing way for construction of Ram temple at the disputed site, Uddhav Thackeray's insistence on chief ministerial post had started pulling the Shiv Sena and the BJP apart.

Uddhav Thackeray's response to the Supreme Court verdict holding Ram Lalla the title holder of the disputed land was rather "subdued". He appealed for caution - an appeal the Shiv Sena is not particularly associated with.

"I appeal to Shiv Sainiks to celebrate the verdict without hurting anybody's sentiments," Uddhav Thackeray had said adding, "If everyone shows understanding and maturity like today, our country will be a superpower."

A few days later some political commentators remarked: Tiger has changed stripes.

Uddhav Thackeray made another interesting change, if it was deliberate. Uddhav Thackeray has not been seen wearing trademark saffron kurtas that both Bal Thackeray and he himself used to wear while addressing public or media on important days. This change happened around the day, Governor BS Koshiyari recommended President's Rule in Maharashtra - November 12. This could be a coincidence though.

After parting ways with the BJP, Shiv Sena chief Uddahv Thackeray has not been seen wearing saffron clothes in public as he tries to cobble up an alliance with the Congress and the NCP. His son Aaditya Thackeray is also seen this screen-grab taken from a video of their press conference held on November 12. (Source: Facebook/Shiv Sena)

Having "convincingly" conveyed to NCP chief Sharad Pawar and particularly Congress president Sonia Gandhi that he was serious on parting ways with the BJP, Uddhav Thackeray sat with his trusted aides to chart out an agreeable common minimum programme of governance.

Breaking away from the NDA and a clearly defined common minimum programme, as reported, were the preconditions set by Sonia Gandhi for an alliance between the Congress and the Shiv Sena.

During talks over three-party alliance, two key "source-based reports" emerged that signal new positioning by the Shiv Sena. It was said that under the common minimum programme, there would be a promise for reintroducing a separate quota of five per cent for Muslims in jobs and education in Maharashtra. The previous UPA government had implemented such a quota which was withdrawn when the government changed and the high court questioned its logic.

The reports were neither debunked nor confirmed by the Shiv Sena leadership. The BJP and the Shiv Sena had vehemently opposed the separate quota for Muslims when they were in Opposition.

The second "report" claimed that the Shiv Sena would drop its demand for Bharat Ratna to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the former Hindu Mahasabha leader and the propounder of Hindutva philosophy. Though Uddhav Thackeray or Shiv Sena spokesperson did not comment on it, a Shiv Sena MP reiterated that Savarkar be given Bharat Ratna.

But the most convincing of all moves by Uddhav Thackeray to signal that he might be shunning saffron or Hindutva politics to ensure a tie-up with the NCP and the Congress was seen in his decision to put his Ayodhya visit on hold.

On the day of Ayodhya verdict, when there still was a possibility of reconciliation with the BJP, Uddhav Thackeray had said, "I had visited Ayodhya on November 24 last year prayed for a miracle to ensure construction of a Ram temple. I am happy that that miracle happened within a year."

Uddhav Thackeray was scheduled to pay a celebratory visit to Ayodhya and offer prayer at the make-shift Ram temple on November 24 this year. But, with his party involved in talks with the NCP and the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray decided to defer his Ayodhya visit to an undecided future date.

This decision appeared to have been taken keeping in view that the Congress leadership does not see Uddhav Thackeray's Ayodhya visit as an assertion of Hindutva politics. But in defence of this decision, the Shiv Sena leaders brought the same logic as the BJP when it depended on coalition partners to form government: Hindutva is a core but national issue, the government will be formed on the basis of common minimum agenda.

Truly, the Tiger has changed its stripes.