The 'flaming torch' symbol was used by the Sena in the past during civic body and assembly polls.
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).
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.
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.
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 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".
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.
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.
A ruling Shiv Sena leader has predicted a "major political earthquake" in Maharashtra on January 23, the birth anniversary of Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray, claiming that 10 to 15 MLAs from the opposition Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) will switch sides and join the party led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The prediction comes amidst reports of discontent within the ruling coalition in the state.
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.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has said he will extend all possible cooperation to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and will work as a team. Addressing a news conference, Shinde described his tenure as chief minister as very successful and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for their support. He also said the Mahayuti government secured a majority in the recent elections. Shinde said that when he was the chief minister, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar extended cooperation to him and they worked as a team. He added that he will now be "dedicated to the common man" 24 x 7. In the first cabinet meeting after the swearing-in ceremony, officials were instructed to disburse the next instalment of the Ladki Bahin scheme to beneficiaries. Shinde also rubbished all talk of him being upset over not being made chief minister. He pointed out that 39 Shiv Sena MLAs were with him when he led a revolt in 2022, and today, the party has 57 MLAs, which he asserted was a seal of approval from the people. Shinde was given a rousing welcome at Anand Ashram, the headquarters of the Shiv Sena in Thane, following the swearing-in ceremony. Several hundred party workers thronged the area carrying placards and shouting slogans in his praise.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has opposed caste-based census, saying it was detrimental to the interests of the country.
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
The former Bharatiya Janata Party leader said the "bow and arrow" symbol became famous due to the tireless work of Bal Thackeray.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
Politicians, actors and people from different sections of society landed up near Matoshree -- the residence of ailing Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray -- on Thursday.
The Shiv Sena chief will be the first from the Thackeray family to be sworn in as the chief minister.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar on Thursday expressed concern over Sena chief Bal Thackeray's ailing health and re-scheduled a music event.
Traditional Hindu priests of the Vishnupad Temple in Bihar's Gaya town -- known as Gaywal Pandas -- are busy trying to find out if Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, his son Uddhav Thackeray and his nephew and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray were originally from Bihar.
Amitabh Bachchan has been in constant touch with Thackeray's son Uddhav to get updates about the Sena chief's health.
In a statement that would not go well with National Democratic Alliance ally Janata Dal (United), Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Friday pitched for a prime minister with Hindu ideology in the next general elections.
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.
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