Bal Thackeray
Indian politician (1926-2012)
Bal Keshav Thackeray (Marathi pronunciation: [baːɭ̆ keːʃəʋ ʈʰaːk(ə)ɾeː]; 23 January 1926 – 17 November 2012), also known as Balasaheb Thackeray, was an Indian cartoonist and politician who founded the original Shiv Sena, a right-wing Marathi regionalist and a Hindu nationalist party, active mainly in the state of Maharashtra.
Thackeray began his professional career as a cartoonist with the English-language daily, The Free Press Journal in Bombay, but he left the paper in 1960 to form his own political weekly, Marmik. His political philosophy was largely shaped by his father Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, a leading figure in the Sanyukta Maharashtra (United Maharashtra) movement, which advocated for the creation of a separate linguistic state for Marathi speakers. Through Mārmik, Bal Thackeray campaigned against the growing influence of non-Marathis in Mumbai. He had a large political influence in the state, especially in Mumbai.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Thackeray built the Shiv Sena with help of Madhav Mehere, the Chief Attorney for Trade Union of India, Babasaheb Purandare, a historian for Govt of Maharashtra and Madhav Deshpande, the Head Accountant for Shiv Sena. These three individuals, to a large extent, were responsible for the success of Shiv Sena and stability of politics in Mumbai till 2000 to ensure its growth into an economic power center. Thackeray was also the founder of the Marathi-language newspaper Saamana. After the riots of 1992–93, he and his party took a Hindutva ideological stance. In 1999, Thackeray was banned from voting and contesting in any election for six years on the recommendations of the Election Commission for indulging in seeking votes in the name of religion.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q61193. VIAF identifies the subject as 74913607. The Library of Congress control number is n89113968. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1926, 2012, 1960 and 2000.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bal Thackeray” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.