Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday posted his thoughts on X on the occasion of the 12th death anniversary of the Shiv Sena patriarch right-wing pro-Marathi and Hindu nationalist Balasaheb Thackeray.
"I pay homage to the great Balasaheb Thackeray Ji on his Punya Tithi. He was a visionary who championed the cause of Maharashtra's development and empowerment of Marathi people," the PM said on X.
He believed in the renaissance of the pride of Indian culture and ethos. His bold voice and an unrelenting spirit continue to inspire generations, PM Modi added.
Bal Keshav Thackeray, popularly known as Balasaheb Thackeray, was a cartoonist and politician who founded the original Shiv Sena.
As an early professional career, he had worked as a cartoonist for the Free Press Journal, an English daily based in Bombay, from which he quit in 1960 to start his own political weekly, Marmik.
As far as his political ideology is concerned, his father, Keshav Sitaram Thackeray was a leader of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement to create a separate linguistic state for the Marathi language-speaking people.
He campaigned against the increasing influence of non-Marathis in Mumbai through the paper Marmik.
Late 1960s to early 1970, Thackeray built the Shiv Sena. He also founded the Marathi-language newspaper Saamana.
He and his party adopted the stance of Hindutva, post the early 90's riots. He was barred from voting and contesting in any election for six years for indulging in seeking votes in the name of religion in the year 1999.
Thackeray never held any official posts as he never stood formally elected as the leader of his party.
His son, Uddhav Bal Thackeray, served as the 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2019 to 2022. He assumed the leadership of Shiv Sena as well as Saamana's Editor-in-Chief from 2006 to 2019.
A member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council since 2020, Uddhav Thackeray is the president of both Maha Vikas Aghadi and Shiv Sena (UBT).
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