Leave my beard alone: Thackeray

8216;8216;He is a cartoonist and has a quirky sense of humour. What is wrong if Raj nurtures a desire to be Chief Minister. If someone asked me, if I wanted to be Prime Minister, I will say yes. I know I will not be the Prime Minister but what is the harm in having the desire,8217;8217; Thackeray asked.

The Sena chief then went on to emphasize that the choice of chief ministerial candidate lay with him. 8216;8216;It will be my decision and I have not decided. The decision will be taken after we win the polls. Besides, there is no such thing as the Thackeray parivar taking a unilateral decision to occupy the Chief Minister8217;s chair. It has to be the decision of the people,8217;8217; he said.

Thackeray, who appeared to be unwell, faced the media at his residence, Matoshree. He repeatedly stressed that neither his son, nor his nephew would enter electoral politics. 8216;8216;Both have already said that if their relationship suffers because of politics, they will quit politics.8217;8217;

Asked if former CMs Manohar Joshi and Narayan Rane too were contenders, the Sena chief parried the question. 8216;8216;I will nominate six chief ministers and six deputy chief ministers. All the elected representatives can be ministers. After all this is a democracy,8217;8217; he said.