The hammering it got in Assembly elections seems to have spurred Shiv Sena to actively pursue "social work", with party Executive President Uddhav Thackeray asking Shiv Sainiks to form 'Bhagwa Guard' (saffron patrol), to protect morning-walkers.
The development comes in the backdrop of recent attack on an elderly morning-walker couple that left the wife dead and husband seriously injured, in central Mumbai's Lalbaug area.
"Uddhavji thinks the incident is a failure of police to protect people and has asked 'shakha pramukhs' (Sena unity heads) to take responsibility for safety of the people," said Sena secretary Anil Desai.
"It is ironical that political leaders have heavy security but common people cannot move freely on the roads," Desai said. "Uddhavji has told Shiv Sainiks to come forward and make people feel safe," he added.
Sena activists would be patrolling gardens, parks and grounds in the city during early morning hours, Desai said. Tina Dedhia and husband Jitin were attacked while on morning walk at 5.30 am near their house on Tuesday.
The attackers assaulted the couple with a knife when Tina refused to part with her gold earrings. She was stabbed in the neck and died immediately, while her husband sustained injuries on both hands.
