A smile on the face of the tiger

It was also alleged that though he was elected from Rajapur in the Konkan region, Prabhu had not taken adequate measures for the development of the backward region and instead set up a parallel network under the banner of ‘Manav Vikas Sasthan’. Similar to the Sena’s shakhas, Prabhu had set up several branches of Manav Vikas Sasthan in the entire Konkan area with paid employees to manage them.

A few days after his removal, while Thackeray maintained a discreet silence on Prabhu’s new assignment, the Shiv Sena was surprised when Vajpayee appointed him as the head of the National River Linking Project with Cabinet rank. Initially, Thackeray expressed displeasure over the appointment, but later realised that it would be wrong to outright reject a politician of Prabhu’s stature.

In fact, the slow process of his rehabilitation began following his appointment. On his part, Prabhu initiated steps to patch up with the senior Thackeray through his son Uddhav. Besides regular interaction with the members of the Thackeray family, Prabhu also ensured good relations with his arch political rival and former Chief Minister Narayan Rane.

A lucid orator, Prabhu drafted a comprehensive action plan to improve Maharashtra’s economy in the event that the saffron combine returns to power, measures to tackle power crisis and the significance of the river-linking project. Impressed by his ideas, Uddhav initiated steps for his rehabilitation. After Uddhav’s green signal, there was no looking back for Prabhu. His name figured in the Shiv Sena’s first list. He has been renominated from Rajapur, a constituency once represented by veteran socialist Madhu Dandavate.

‘‘Though I was asked to resign from the Union Cabinet, I was never rejected by my political mentor Bal Thackeray. In fact, when I offered to resign from Lok Sabha, he was the first to stop me from taking such an extreme step,’’ Prabhu remarked.

According to Prabhu, though he was out of power, he had so far held more than 5000 meetings across the country to explain to the heads of the states the need to implement the river-linking project in a time-bound period.

Along with the river-linking project, Prabhu took the responsibility to organise the ‘‘Career 2004’’ exhibition, which was inaugurated by President A P J Abdul Kalam, for the Shiv Sena and organised an interactive session of leading industrialists with Uddhav. Both events were a big success, proving that Prabhu’s rehabilitation was a right decision at a right time.