Bal Thackeray Passes Away

Balasaheb Keshav Thackeray (popularly known as Bal Thackeray), the Chief of Shiv Sena, died this afternoon (17th November 2012) at his Bandra residence “Matoshri” in Mumbai. He had been ill for sometime. His death was announced to the public at 4.55 PM today.

Bal Thackeray

He was born on 23rd January 1926.

Bal Thackeray began his life as a political cartoonist with the Free Press Journal and then went on to establish his own weekly “Marmik” in 1960. Later he founded “Saamna”, a Marathi news paper, and “Dopahar Ka Saamna”, a Hindi news paper.

He straddled the Maharashtrian political scene for over four decades with his controversial right wing positions. His political career started in the 1950’s with the Samyukta Maharashtra movement whose aim was a unified Maharashtra that included Bombay, Konkan, Western Maharashtra, Vidarbha and regions of Marathwada.

He ‘ll be cremated tomorrow at Shivaji Park.

Sanjay Raut, a Shiv Sena MP, announced: “Thackeray’s body is at present kept at Matoshri. Tomorrow morning, around 7.30 a.m., it will be taken to Shiv Sena Bhavan for party workers to pay their respects. From there, it will be taken to Shivaji Park where the public can pay their last respects from 10 a.m.”

Elaborate security arrangements are being made in Bandra, along the entire route from Matoshri to the Head Quarters of Shiv Sena in Dadar (West) and along the route to Shivaji Park in South Central Mumbai where he is to be cremated.

Raj Thackeray, founder and chief of the break-away Nav Nirman Sena, is his nephew.

Thackeray’s wife Mina passed away in 1995. He is survived by his sons Uddhav and Jaidev. Uddhav Thackery is his politcal heir and Jaidev Thackeray is a filmmaker. His eldest son Bindumadhav died in a car crash in 1996.

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