Pix: At Matoshree, Sainiks ask for 'Balasaheb's darshan'

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray is responding to treatment.

The crowd outside his Bandra residence Matoshree has halved, but the slogans have doubled. Cries of "Darshan dya, darshan dya, Balasaheb darshan dya" are at fever pitch.

Mumbai was back to normal as Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray's health improved on Thursday evening.

Former Maharashtra chief minister and senior Sena leader Manohar Joshi told the media on Friday, "Bal Thackeray's health is slowly improving."

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The number of supporters outside Bal Thackeray's residence at Bandra (east) have almost halved. But there's a difference in the sentiments -- on Thursday, the thousands who had squatted or stood on the road outside Matoshree for hours at end, seemed worried, restless and then angry at the almost complete blackout of information from the family. 

Now that Thackeray has been on the mend, his supporters have been baying for a darshan of their saheb. The cries of "Darshan dya, darshan dya, Balasaheb darshan dya" are at fever pitch.

There is no let-up in the security cordon outside Matoshree. At least 500 policemen, and personnel from the Rapid Action Force are maintaining vigil.

Thackeray has been under the care of a team of specialists from Lilavati Hospital at his home. According to party leaders, virtually an ICU had been created at Matoshree with all emergency equipment and medical and para-medical staff on duty round-the-clock.  He is however, on life support and while still critical, his health is believed to be improving.

A Sena leader told rediff.com Thackeray's blood pressure and pulse rate are normal. A doctor, who went in to Matoshree a while ago, left around noon without speaking to the media.

The OB vans and journalists parked outside Matoshree remain, as does Bollywood making its presence felt. Actors Suresh Oberoi and Vivek Oberoi have just dropped in to visit the Thackerays.

Among the steady stream of visitors to Matoshree on Friday was yoga guru Baba Ramdev.

Bollywood turned out in large numbers yesterday -- Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek, Rishi Kapoor with brother Randhir, Salim Khan and sons Salman and Arbaaz, Manoj Kumar, Madhur Bhandarkar, Bappi Lahiri, Sanjay Dutt with Manayata. 

Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray said late on Friday night that Thackeray's condition was ''stable''.

"Our feelings and wishes for him are the same. His condition has been stable since Wednesday. His treatment is underway. I repeat what I said on Wednesday that we will not give up. The power of our prayers will help him recover. Let's continue praying for him. I have full faith that he will recover," he added.

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