A Valentine Day minus Sena histrionics

Mumbai woke up to a really 'different' Valentine's Day this year. Shiv Sena, the party that used to take to streets, burn cards, reprimand college students, install watchdogs on college gates and vandalise gift shops, was strangely quiet this year.

Highly placed sources confirmed that considerations for youth constituency have taken precedence since the launch of Aditya Thackeray as the party's new face and the party cannot risk unpopularity with the youth now.

Party insiders found it hard to describe the sudden change in the strategy. When asked whether the party had decided not to oppose V-day celebrations, spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said.

"There was absolutely no discussion on this issue. How can the party decide not to oppose or anything? There are many other important issues to deal with at present." She added though that Mumbai streets were not as crowded on Monday.

A senior source in the party said, " The party has put up its stand for so many years on this issue. Now we are letting the new generation decide on its own. So if Aditya thinks he does not want to oppose V-Day, it's the decision of the new generation."

When asked whether the party would consider supporting V-Day, the source said, " This year we have decided not to oppose the celebrations. Next year we might actually think on how to celebrate it." Shiv Sena MLA from Thane Pratap Sarnaik who has been celebrating the day as ' Sanskruti Din' (Culture Day) said, " Nobody opposes love.

The opposition was essentially to the western way of celebrating the Valentine's Day. Yes, but the Sena's opposition to Valentine's Day has been losing strength over the years. Thane's Sena sampark pramukh Eknath Shinde also joined this celebration. Youth constituency considerations lead to change in party's strategy