Uddhav's statement today, which was also his birthday, comes after a demand from some of his supporters and speculations that he may contest the forthcoming polls. ``Certainly, a section of the Sena workers feel that I should contest the polls, but I have no such plans. I have decided to devote more time to campaigning as well as further strengthening the organisation,'' Uddhav clarified.

On the row between him and Raj, Uddhav blamed the media for creating a rift. ``Initially, we ignored thereports in a section of the media, but when the vilification campaign gathered momentum with major newspapers taking cognisance, we issued a clarification. Since we are not interested in any government post, I think there should be no dispute. Secondly, there is no question of sidelining Raj since he is one of the main pillars of the Sena-BJP alliance,'' he added.

Significantly, though Uddhav denied the rift, Raj had not turned up to wish him Udhav on his 40th birthday till afternoon. ``So far he has not come. He informed me that he will come in the evening,'' Uddhav said.

Uddhav also denied that he was all set to take over the organisation or that he has an upper hand in the decision making process. ``It is not true that I have full control over the party. Since me and my father stay in the same house, I have more opportunities to consult him. On occasions, when he is not able to devote time, I discuss the issue with the party leaders and take a final decision in consultation with my father,'' hesaid.

When asked if he was in the race for the Chief Minister's post after the assembly elections, Uddhav said such a question does not arise. ``Though there is no such proposal at the moment, he was prepared to shoulder any responsibility. However, the members of the Thackeray family have decided that they will not accept any post,'' he added. Talking about Sena-BJP's poll prospects, Uddhav said he was confident that the alliance will be improve its performance. ``In the last Lok Sabha and assembly elections, we were badly mauled. The Sena workers at the grassroot level have taken the defeat very seriously. Now, I am sure we will secure clear majority in the assembly and also improve our performance in the parliament,'' he said.

On the performance of the alliance government, Uddhav said though by and large, it was satisfactory, it fell short of expectations as it was unable to provided free houses to the 40 lakh slum dwellers and employment to jobless youths. ``Our plan was to provide two lakh freehouses to slumdwellers in the first four years. However, due to teething troubles, we were able to construct 50,00 houses. I think, now with the experience in hand, it should not be difficult to complete the task in a time bound period. The dream project of my father will not be abandoned for political reasons,'' he stressed.

On the feeling of a section of the Sena workers that there was growing centralisation of power in the party, Udhav said it would be wrong to say so. ``Shiv Sena is a different kind of party. Initially, it was set up with a particular purpose and now it has become a political party with particular aims and objectives. The situation under which my father set up the party was also different. The situation made him the leader of the organisation and as such now it is not possible to change the set up,'' he added.