Bal Keshav Thackeray, an Indian politician, was the founder member of a right-wing ethnocentric Marathi party called the Shiv Sena. The party’s activities are mainly concentrated in the state of Maharashtra in the western part of India. Bal Thackeray opposed the migration and increasing influence of the non-Marathis in the city of Mumbai. He campaigned against it through his journal Marmik, which was a cartoon weekly. He plunged into politics to further this motto and formed a new party in 1966 called the Shiv Sena. The objective of the party initially was to make sure that Maharashtrians get job security in the state as they faced competition from the south Indian, Marwari and Gujarati immigrants. Temporary alliances with almost all the Maharashtrian political parties were made during late 1960s to early 1970s.
| Bio | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Bal Keshav Thackeray |
| Nickname(s) | Balasaheb, Hindu Hruday Samrat |
| Profession | Indian Politician |
| Political Party | Shiv Sena |
| Physical Stats & More | |
| Height (approx.) | in centimeters– 170 cm in meters– 1.70 m in feet inches– 5’ 7” |
| Weight (approx.) | in kilograms– 60 kg in pounds– 132 lbs |
| Eye Colour | Black |
| Hair Colour | Grey |
| Personal Life | |
| Date of Birth | 23 January 1926 |
| Birth Place | Pune, Bombay Presidency, British India |
| Date of Death | 17 November 2012 |
| Place of Death | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Age (at the time of death) | 86 Years |
| Death Cause | Cardiac Arrest |
| Zodiac sign/Sun sign | Aquarius |
| Signature |  |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Hometown | Mumbai, India |
| School | Not Known |
| College | N/A |
| Educational Qualification | A School Drop-Out |
| Family | Father– Keshav Sitaram Thackeray (a social reformer and journalist) Mother– Ramabai Brothers– Ramesh Thackeray, Shrikant Prabhodankar Thackeray Sisters– Pama Tipnis, Sudha Sule, Sarla Gadkari, Susheela Gupte, Sanjeevani Karandikar |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Caste | Marathi Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP Community) |
| Address (till the time of his death in 2012) | Matoshree, Kalanagar, Bandra East, Mumbai |
| Hobbies | Doing Photography, Listening to Music, Travelling, Reading |
| Controversies | • Throughout his life, he had been criticized for promoting regionalism on ethnic lines. • He was also criticized for his right-wing Hindu extremism. • The first time he came under criticism was soon after the launch of Shiv Sena in 1966 when he launched a campaign against the South Indians in Mumbai, whom he accused of stealing jobs of the local Marathi people. • In 1969, he was arrested and sent to Yerwada Prison in connection with Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute. • He was a staunch critic of Pakistan. In 1998, a ghazal concert of Ghulam Ali was disrupted following the orders of Bal Thackeray. • He surprised political circles after he extended his support to the Emergency announced by Indira Gandhi in 1975. • Allegations were made against him for embarking the communal riots in Bhiwandi in 1984; in which 17 persons were killed and more than 100 were injured. • Allegations were made against him for conspiring the Babri Masjid demolition. • After the 1993 Bombay-Blast, it was said that Bal Thackeray was one of them who incited the communal violence. • In 1995, he opposed the release of Bollywood film “Bombay,” which was based on the communal riots in Mumbai after the 1993 Mumbai-Bomb-Blast. • In Saamna (the mouthpiece of Shiv Sena), once he signed “Ek Bihari, Sau Bimari.” To this, Nitish Kumar (the then Chief Minister of Bihar) filed a written complaint with the Prime Minister of India. His comment also led the resignation of Shiv Sena’s North India chief Jai Bhagwan Goyal who termed Shiv Sena as a Khalistan and militant organization. • He also paid disrespect to APJ Abdul Kalam (the then President of India) for not pronouncing the death sentence of Afzal Guru. • He was also criticised for praising Hitler in an interview to a daily-newspaper in 2007. • In 2007, he was briefly arrested after referring to Muslims as “green poison” during a Shiv Sena rally. • He also earned a controversy for supporting the Tamil militant organization- LTTE. • Social activist Anna Hazare and Bal Thackeray’s brother Ramesh Thackeray had accused him of disproportionate assets and asked for a CBI inquiry. |
| Favourite Things | |
| Favourite Leader(s) | Mahatma Gandhi |
| Favourite Statesman | Adolf Hitler |
| Favourite Politician | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Favourite Actor(s) | Amitabh Bachchan, Nana Patekar |
| Favourite Singer(s) | Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar |
| Favourite Sport | Cricket |
| Favourite Cricketer(s) | Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar |
| Girls, Affairs and More | |
| Marital Status | Widower |
| Wife/Spouse | Mina Thackeray |
| Children | Sons– Bindumadhav Thackeray, Jaidev Thackeray,
Uddhav Thackeray (a Politician & a Wildlife Photographer) Daughter– None |
| Money Factor | |
| Net Worth (approx.) | 40 Crore INR |
Some Lesser Known Facts About Bal Thackeray
- Did Bal Thackeray smoke?: Yes
- Did Bal Thackeray drink alcohol?: Yes
- His father, Keshav Thackeray, was a social reformer and journalist who was known as Prabodhankar because of his magazine Prabodhan.
- In his childhood, he lost his mother.
- His father, Keshav Thackeray was an advocate for the creation of a unified State called Maharashtra with Mumbai as its capital.
- He had to quit his studies as his family faced financial crisis.
- Thackeray started off as a cartoonist in a Mumbai-based newspaper- Free Press Journal. However, due to creative differences, he quit the job in the late 1950s.
- The Times of India used to publish his cartoons in its Sunday edition.
- In 1960, along with his brother Srikant, he launched a cartoon weekly- Marmik and used it as a campaign against the non-Marathi people in Mumbai. The magazine, Marmik, was on the lines of the British magazine, Punch, which advocated sons-of-the-soil agenda.
- He started another daily- News Day, along with George Fernandes (politician) and other 4 or 5 people. However, it survived only a few months.
- He wrote or Marathi publication under the pen name “Mavla.”
- On 19 June 1966, prompted with the success of Marmik, he formed the Shiv Sena; named after the 17th century Maratha king- Shivaji.
- The initial objective of Shiv Sena was to ensure the job security of the local Marathi-speaking natives of Maharashtra competing against the South Indians and Gujaratis.
- The Shiv Sena saw its first victory in the 1967 Thane Municipal Council elections.
- Shiv Sena grew in the next 10 years. However, during the 1970s local elections, it could not succeed, mainly because it was active only in Bombay compared to the rest of the State.
- With the passage of time, Bal Thackeray and his party started violent tactics with attacks against migrants, media, and the rival parties, destroying public and private property.
- Initially, Thackeray supported the Indian National Congress. However, by the 1980s, it became a threat to the ruling Congress party.
- In 1989, Bal Thackeray launched Saamna, the so-called Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece.
- The Shiv Sena was recognized as a political party in 1989 with Bow and Arrow as its official election symbol.
- Bal Thackeray opposed the recommendations of Mandal Commission, and because of which his close aid Chhagan Bhujbal left the Shiv Sena in 1991.
- Following the 1992 Bombay riots, Thackeray started campaigning against Muslims and adopted an extreme Hindutva ideology, which led to its closeness with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
- The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance won the 1995 Maharashtra State Assembly elections and remained in power from 1995 to 1999. In the government, Thackeray declared himself to be the “remote control” chief minister.
- The Srikrishna Commission Report blamed Thackeray and the Shiv Sena for inciting the 1992-1993 riots.
- In 1996, Michael Jackson had visited Bal Thackeray and autographed the toilet seat that he used.
- On 28 July 1999, The Election Commission banned Thackeray from voting and contesting in any election for 6 years from 11 December 1999 till 10 December 2005 for indulging in corrupt practice by seeking votes in the name of religion.
- In 2004, he handed over the reins of Shiv Sena to his son Uddhav Thackeray and appointed him party’s working President.