Shiv Sena's new working president, Uddhav Thackeray, on Monday sought to carve a niche for the saffron party in Delhi ahead of the assembly polls later this year.

"We need to grasp issues dear to locals of a state and spread the reach of the party as fast as possible," he said in his maiden public appearance in Delhi.

"Addressing national issues like cross-border terrorism is necessary, but attending to local problems like water and power shortage in the national capital is equally important if the Shiv Sena has to establish itself," he said in his address to party workers at a reception hosted by the Delhi unit of the Sena.

Without referring to the Bharatiya Janata Party, its ally, he said, "Leaving all parties behind, the Shiv Sena can prove that it is the true representative of Hindutva in the country.

"We will never part ways with Hindutva. Other parties may have let you down," he said.

Criticising the Congress for not supporting the bill for a common civil code, he said, "This act proves that the Congress is not serious in rooting out communalism from the country."