MOST profiles of Bombay strongman Bal Thackeray have him dressed in the saffron clothes of the Hindu sage and nationalist.
Saffron is the colour he has chosen as a statement of his Shiv Sena party's position on the militant right of the Indian political spectrum. It is also the preferred dress-code of the Shiv Sena street-thugs who intimidate his political opponents and terrorise Muslims, especially in the slums of Bombay.
He told a television interviewer this summer he was already the Hitler of the state of Maharashtra and wanted to be the Hitler of Hindustan.
The saffron flag flies proudly above his heavily guarded residence and headquarters. But this morning Mr Thackeray has dispensed with the symbols of Hindu resurgence in his personal dress and slipped into something more regal; appropriately enough. He has just emerged the clear winner after two days of intense political manoeuvring, reasserting his leadership, putting his chief minister, Manohar Joshi, firmly in his place, and bringing his partners in the state's fractious ruling coalition back into line.
Unelected, and proud of it, Mr Thackeray has shown once again that he, and no one else, calls the shots in Maharashtra and the state capital, Bombay. His leadership has never seriously been called into question, despite an angry outburst from Mr Joshi recently, when he was snubbed by Rebecca Mark, chief executive of United States power company Enron Corporation's Indian subsidiary who went straight to Mr Thackeray without meeting the chief minister.
Ms Mark said she had been delayed by traffic. But she also knew it was the Shiv Sena leader who had the power to restart negotiations on Enron's stalled Maharashtra plant.