The claim evoked a sharp reaction from Fadnavis, current deputy chief minister in the Mahayuti government of BJP, Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and Nationalist Congress Party led by Ajit Pawar, who said Thackeray has "lost his mind".
'When one says Shivaji Park, it brings to mind the Shiv Sena led by Balasaheb Thackeray. And that Shiv Sena is now Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena'
Bal Thackeray never considered caste while giving tickets or appointing ministers when the Shiv Sena came to power, notes political commentator Prakash Bal Joshi. 'He had the guts to take decisions against popular sentiment on the basis of his convictions.'
The former CM said his party's Hindutva is "nationalism" and the Bharatiya Janata Party should explain what is its Hindutva.
He said Shiv Sena protected a political leadership for 25-30 years but they (the BJP) didn't want Sena and also the Akali Dal -- the erstwhile members of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The 'flaming torch' symbol was used by the Sena in the past during civic body and assembly polls.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday slammed the Maharashtra government saying that "Mughal rule" was prevailing in the state, and declared that he would contest the next assembly election from Thane, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's bastion.
Security was beefed up across Maharashtra, particularly in Mumbai where 20,000 police personnel were deployed, to keep a tight vigil following the death of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray in Mumbai on Saturday.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Friday defended Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari, who has been accused of receiving illegal favours in land allotment from Maharashtra's Congress-NJationalist Congress Party government.
Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Daniel Pande and Rajesh Karkera snap up the way supporters have been paying the respects to Bal Thackeray during his funeral procession
The Shiv Sena Bhavan is controlled by 'Shivai Seva Trust'. Its founding trustees include late Bal Thackeray and his wife late Meena Thackeray. Many of the founding trustees are not alive now.
Hitting out at Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray and his family members for targetting Bihari migrants in Maharashtra, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Sunday claimed that the Thackerays were infiltrators as their forefathers had hailed from Bihar.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who is undergoing treatment for weakness and fever at the Lilavati hospital in Mumbai has been shifted to a special room from the Intensive Care Unit and is likely to be discharged by Friday, doctors attending on him said on Wednesday.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has opposed caste-based census, saying it was detrimental to the interests of the country.
The former Bharatiya Janata Party leader said the "bow and arrow" symbol became famous due to the tireless work of Bal Thackeray.
The elder son of party chief Uddhav Thackeray will become the first member of the clan ever to contest an election.
Close on the heels of the Sena's success in the civic polls in Mumbai, Thackeray was ordered to be present in court on March 28 by Metropolitan Magistrate M B Date, who had earlier issued summons to him on three occasions.
Calling him a man of great "grit" and "conviction", Bollywood celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar and Ajay Devgnn condoled the demise of Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray on Sunday
While top politicians shirked from making any comment on Bal Thackeray stature, a leading Islamic cleric did not hesitate to praise the Shiv Sena supremo for carving out an unparalleled stature for himself.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday dismissed reports of his being on ventilator and blamed a leading Marathi newspaper for spreading the "falsehood". "I am not on a ventilator," Thackeray said.
"If any film is maligning the image of a mass leader, the supporters would agitate," Smita, estranged wife of Thackeray's son Jaidev wrote in a letter to Marathi newspaper Loksatta on Wednesday.
Bharatiya Janata Party's newly appointed national president Nitin Gadkari on Monday paid a courtesy visit to saffron ally, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray at latter's residence in Mumbai.
With the Aurangabad police on Tuesday registering an offence against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Raj Thackeray over his speech against loudspeakers on mosques, some party leaders slammed the Maharashtra government and said they will hit the streets in case of further action against their party head.
The Shiv Sena chief will be the first from the Thackeray family to be sworn in as the chief minister.
Politicians, actors and people from different sections of society landed up near Matoshree -- the residence of ailing Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray -- on Thursday.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who underwent an angioplasty at a suburban hospital in Mumbai on Tuesday, is stable and will be in the Intensive Care Unit till Thursday. Thackeray, 83, will be in the ICU for one more day and will be shifted on Thursday to a special room, where he will be under observation for two more days before he is discharged. Thackeray was admitted to the private hospital on Monday and underwent an angioplasty.
Shinde had retained most of the sitting MLAs, who chose to be with him when he led the rebellion two years ago. They delivered for him on Saturday when votes for the state polls were counted.
Shiv Sena leader and former MP Rahul Shewale said around 2 lakh people are expected to attend the rally at Azad Maidan to hear the CM.
Targeting All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said the Congress leader has no prospects of becoming prime minister of the country.
Stating that the Shiv Sena was ready to provide the best lawyers to defend Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, arrested in connection with the Malegaon blast, Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday ridiculed Congress Member of Parliament Gurudas Kamat, who has demanded his arrest for backing her. "Whenever Congressmen have feats of Muslim appeasement, they dream of my arrest," Thackeray said in an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana.
In controversial remarks, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Wednesday advocated the creation of "Hindu suicide squads" to fight the scourge of "Islamic terrorism." The remarks immediately drew sharp condemnation from the ally BJP which said Thackeray must behave responsibly.
From drawing cartoons with potent messages to etching for himself a larger-than-life image on Maharashtra's political landscape, Bal Thackeray was the mascot of Marathi pride and Hindutva who aroused extreme emotions but could never be ignored.
The Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Ekanth Shinde has decided to withdraw its application submitted to the Mumbai civic body seeking permission to hold a rally on Dussehra at the iconic Shivaji Park ground in Mumbai, a party MLA said on Tuesday afternoon.
The meeting in New Delhi etc is just the BJP being nice to the man who helped it realise its dream by stabbing Uddhav in the back, notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Five years since he supported UPA's Presidential nominee Pratibha Patil after breaking ranks with National Democratic Alliance, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Thursday appeared having second thoughts on the issue.
Polling for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly was continuing in brisk pace in Mumbai on Tuesday. 20 per cent polling had already been completed in the state till noon.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday demanded that Chief Justice India D Y Chandrachud recuse himself from the cases tied to the disqualification petitions concerning rebel Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party MLAs.
The Maharashtra government on Monday said it would take a positive decision on the demand that a memorial to the late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray be constructed at the Shivaji Park ground in the city, where he was cremated on Sunday. Senior Sena leader Manohar Joshi had made the demand on Sunday.
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