Mumbai, Dec. 2: Raj Thackeray stayed put in Pune today, scrapping his scheduled return to Mumbai as the standoff in the Shiv Sena over his rebellion continued.

Raj, who has so far spurned uncle Bal Thackeray’s repeated invitations to his Bandra bungalow for a tete-a-tete, had abruptly left for Pune on Wednesday. He had promised to announce his plans by Friday in Mumbai, but till this evening hadn’t left for the metropolis.

The Thackeray nephew has kept everybody guessing about whether he wants to split the Sena and form his own faction or whether he plans to join the Nationalist Congress Party or, perhaps, the Congress.

With the possibility of a split in mind, both Raj and Uddhav Thackeray, his cousin and rival, have been marshalling support for themselves. Uddhav, the party executive president, left for a rally on farmers’ issues and power cuts in Nandgaon, 70 km from Nashik, this afternoon.

Raj, who quit his party posts on November 27, met a close friend of the Thackeray family ? the Pune-based historian Babasaheb Purandare ? and visited the famous Kasba Peth Ganesh pandal with him.

The meeting is being seen as yet another move by the Sena leadership to persuade him to return to the fold and sort out his differences with Uddhav.

Yesterday, rumours of Raj floating a new organisation had gained ground after many of the supporters thronging his Pune apartment were made to sign a membership form for an unnamed organisation.

It’s possible the outfit will be a non-political one and will adopt the Sena’s original sons-of-the-soil approach. Several years ago, Raj had floated the Shiv Udyog Sena to provide Maharashtrian youth with jobs. The organisation sank without a trace after the Sena lost power in 1999.

Raj’s supporters today vandalised a Pune municipal office after the civic authorities removed posters and banners put up in the city expressing solidarity with Raj.