Bal Keshav Thackeray (1926–2012) was an Indian politician and journalist, best known as the founder of the Shiv Sena political party, a right-wing Marathi regionalist and Hindu nationalist movement active primarily in Maharashtra. He began his career as a cartoonist for the Free Press Journal and, in 1960, launched the weekly Marmik with his brother, which polemicized against the influence of "outsiders" in Mumbai.
Thackeray founded the Shiv Sena on June 19, 1966, to champion the cause of the Marathi Manoos and address the perceived problem of migrants from southern India and Gujarat taking jobs from local residents, using the slogan "Maharashtra for Maharashtrians." The party's ideology later shifted from Marathi nativism to a staunch Hindutva and anti-Muslim stance, aligning with the broader Hindu nationalist movement.
Thackeray never held an official post or ran for election, but he exercised immense power as the Paksha Pramukh (Party Chief) and was often referred to as the "remote control" chief minister when the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance governed Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999. His influence was channeled through the party's structure and his fiery rhetoric, often published in the party newspaper, Saamana, launched in 1989.
The concept of the Shiv Sena is intrinsically connected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance, the Hindutva ideology, and controversial events like the 1992-93 Mumbai riots. The most significant recent change is the split of the original Shiv Sena (1966–2022) after his death on November 17, 2012. The party is now divided into two main factions: the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena (2022–present), with the latter retaining the original party name and symbol.