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. Thackeray was arrested multiple times and spent a brief stint in prison, but he never faced any major legal repercussions. Upon his death, he was accorded a state funeral, at which many mourners were present. Thackeray did not hold any official positions, and he was never formally elected as the leader of his party.
Bal Thackeray was born on 23 January 1926 in Pune, the son of Prabodhankar Thackeray and his wife Ramabai Thackeray. The family belongs to the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu, a community with ethnic roots in North India. community. His father Keshav was an admirer of India-born British writer William Makepeace Thackeray, and changed his own surname from Panvelkar to "Thackeray" an Anglicised version of their ancestral surname "Thakare".
Thackeray's father, Keshav was a professional journalist and cartoonist by trade; he was also a social activist and a writer who was involved in a Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti, which advocated the creation of a separate linguistic state for Marathi speakers. He also started a magazine named Prabodhan, where he promoted Hindu philosophies and nationalistic ideals to revive Hindutva in society. This proved to be highly influential in shaping Bal Thackeray's political views.
Thackeray was the eldest of eight siblings, with brothers Shrikant Thackeray (father of Raj Thackeray) and Ramesh Thackeray, and five sisters (Sanjeevani Karandikar, Prabhavati (Pama) Tipnis, Malati (Sudha) Sule, Sarla Gadkari and Susheela Gupte).
Raj in 2006 broke away from Shiv Sena to form his own political party called the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Despite Raj's breakaway from the main party, he continues to maintain that Thackeray was his ideologue and relations between them improved during Thackeray's final years.
Thackeray began 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. After Thackeray's differences with the Free Press Journal, he and four or five people, including politician George Fernandes, left the paper and started their own daily, News Day. The paper survived for one or two months. In 1960, he launched the cartoon weekly Marmik with his brother Srikant. It focused on issues of common "Marathi Manoos" (Marathi, or Marathi-speaking, people) including unemployment, immigration and the retrenchment of Marathi workers. Its office in Ranade Road became the rallying point for Marathi youth. Thackeray later stated that it was "not just a cartoon weekly but also the prime reason for the birth and growth of the Sena". It was the issue of Marmik on 5 June 1966 which first announced the launch of membership for the Shiv Sena.
Thackeray drew cartoons for the Free Press Journal, the Times of India and Marmik besides contributing to Saamna till 2012. He cited the New Zealander cartoonist David Low as his inspiration.
The success of Marmik prompted Thackeray to form the Shiv Sena on 19 June 1966. The name Shiv Sena (Shivaji's Army) is a reference to the 17th century Maratha Emperor Shivaji. Initially, Thackeray said it was not a political party but an army of Shivaji Maharaj, inclined to fight for the Marathi maanus (person). It demanded that native speakers of the state's local language Marathi (the "sons of the soil" movement) be given preferential treatment in private and public sector jobs. The early objective of the Shiv Sena was to ensure their job security competing against South Indians and Gujaratis. In its 1966 party manifesto, Thackeray primarily blamed south Indians. In Marmik, Thackeray published a list of corporate officials from a local directory, many being south Indians, citing it as proof that Maharashtrians were being discriminated against.
His party grew in the next ten years. Senior leaders such as Babasaheb Purandare, chief attorney for Trade Union of Maharashtra Madhav Mehere joined the party and chartered accountant Madhav Gajanan Deshpande backed various aspects of the party operations. In 1969, Thackeray and Manohar Joshi were jailed after participating in a protest demanding the merger of Karwar, Belgaum and Nipani regions in Maharashtra. During the 1970s, it did not succeed in the local elections and it was active mainly in Mumbai, compared to the rest of the state. The party set up local branch offices and settled disputes, complaints against the government. It later started violent tactics with attacks against rival parties, migrants and the media; the party agitated by destroying public and private property. Thackeray publicly supported Indira Gandhi during the 1975 Emergency; Thackeray supported the Congress party numerous times.
Dr. Hemchandra Gupte, Mayor of Mumbai and the former family physician and confidant of Thackeray, left Shiv Sena in 1976 citing the emphasis given to money, violence committed by the Shiv Sena members, and Thackeray's support for Indira Gandhi and the 1975 emergency.
Politically, the Shiv Sena was anti-communist, and wrested control of trade unions in Mumbai from the Communist Party of India (CPI). Local unemployed youth from the declining textile industry joined the party and it further expanded because of Maharashtrians from the Konkan region. By the 1980s, it became a threat to the ruling Congress party which had initially encouraged it because of it rivalling the CPI. In 1989, the Sena's newspaper Saamna was launched by Thackeray. Because of Thackeray being against the Mandal Commission report, his close aide Chhagan Bhujbal left the party in 1991. Following the 1992 Bombay riots, Thackeray took stances viewed as anti-Muslim and based on Hindutva. Shiv Sena later allied itself with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance won the 1995 Maharashtra State Assembly elections and were in power from 1995 to 1999. Thackeray declared himself to be the "remote control" chief minister.
Thackeray and the Chief Minister Manohar Joshi were explicitly named for inciting the Shivsainiks for violence against Muslims during the 1992–1993 riots in an inquiry ordered by the government of India, the Srikrishna Commission Report.
Thackeray had influence in the film industry. His party workers agitated against films he found controversial and would disrupt film screenings, causing losses. Bombay, a 1995 film on the riots, was opposed by them.