Bal Thackeray Biodata

Birth Name : Bal Keshav Thackeray

Date of birth : 23/01/1926

Place of birth : Pune, Maharashtra, India

Bal Thackeray was an Indian politician, founder of the 'Shiv Sena'. He was born on January 23, 1926 at Pune, Maharashtra, India. He came from amiddle class marati family. His father is 'Keshav Sitaram Thackeray', Keshav Thackeray was a progressive social activist and writer. Thackeray was married to 'Meena Thackeray' and had three sons, 'Bindumadhav Thackeray', 'Jaidev Thackeray' and 'Uddhav Thackeray'. Meena and Bindumadhav died in 1996.

Award

Bharat Ratna Award

Early Life

Thackeray started his career as a cartoonist in the Free Press Journal in Mumbai. His cartoons were also published in the Sunday edition of The Times of India. In 1960, he launched a cartoon weekly Marmik with his brother. He used it to campaign against the growing numbers and influence of non-Marathi people in Mumbai, targeting Gujaratis and South Indians.

Shiva Sena Party

He formed the Shiv Sena on 19 June 1966 with the intent of fighting for the rights of the natives of the state of Maharashtra. The Party grew in power when in the early 1970s he was joined by senior leaders such as Marathi Literature Historian Babasaheb Purandare, Chief Attorney for Trade Union of Maharashtra Madhav Mehere as a party Attorney and experienced Trade Union Chartered Accountant Madhav Deshpande to back him up for various aspects of the party operations.

Politically, the Shiv Sena was anti-communist and wrested control of trade unions in Mumbai from the Communist Party of India. It later allied itself with the 'Bharatiya Janata Party'. The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance won the 1995 Maharashtra State Assembly elections and came to power. Thackeray believed that Hindus must be organised to struggle against those who oppose their identity and religion. especially in the public sector. Opposition leftist parties allege that the Shiv Sena has done little to solve the problem of unemployment facing a large proportion of Maharashtrian youth during its tenure, in contradiction to its ideological foundation of 'sons of the soil.

On 14 February 2006, Thackeray condemned and apologised for the violent attacks by Shiv Sainiks upon a private Valentine's Day celebration in Mumbai. "It is said that women were beaten up in the Nallasopara incident. If that really happened, then it is a symbol of cowardice. I have always instructed Shiv Sainiks that in any situation women should not be humiliated and harassed." Thackeray and the Shiv Sena remained opposed to Valentine's Day celebrations, although they indicated support for an "Indian alternative." However, in some cases, the SS has been more tolerant during Valentine's Day celebrations.

Death

Thackeray died on 17 November as a consequence of a cardiac arrest. Mumbai came to a virtual halt immediately as the news broke out about his death, with shops and commercial establishments downing their shutters. The entire of Maharashtra was put on high alert. The police appealed for calm and there were 20,000 Mumbai police officers, 15 units of the State Reserve Police Force and three contingents of the Rapid Action Force were deployed.