President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday condoled the death of Bal Thackeray saying the nation has lost a veteran leader who worked to help the common man.
In a message, Dr Singh said: "For him the interests of Maharashtra were particularly important and he always strived to inculcate a sense of pride in its people. He founded the Shiv Sena and built the party into a formidable force in the State politics with his strong leadership."
Back in January 2006, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray granted the Sena daily newspaper Saamna Editor Sanjay Raut an interview where he spoke his mind about his nephew Raj's departure from the party.
"Balasaheb Thackeray is a great leader. There are many who would say that people are afraid of him. Mumbai doesn't fear him; it loves him". This is what Bharatiya Janata Party leader Prakash Javadekar has to say about ailing Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.
Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, whose condition turned critical on Wednesday night, is showing signs of improvement and has been taken off the life support system, party spokesman Sanjay Raut said on Thursday.
Thanking voters for yet again reposing faith in his party in the municipal elections, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Saturday said the poll results have shown that Mumbai cannot be separated from Maharashtra.
In an interesting meeting scheduled for July 13, Pranab Mukherjee, the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition's nominee for the Presidential election, would be calling on Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, to thank him.
Marathwada region, from where arrested Lashkar-e-Tayiba handler of 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack Abu Jundal hails, is fast becoming the "new Pakistan", Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said on Wednesday.
The stars come out to party again!
Explaining what makes nephews turn against their uncles, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray launched a veiled attack on estranged nephew Raj, saying nephews get 'tickled' when they see their uncles being hailed.
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.
Matondkar, 46, who quit the Congress in September 2019 after five months in that party, joined the Shiv Sena in presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at his residence Matoshri in suburban Bandra.
Giving a major boost to the United Progressive Alliance's Presidential candidate, key National Democratic Alliance constituent Shiv Sena on Tuesday described Pranab Mukherjee as the "right candidate" for the top post and sought unanimous support for him. "Let bygones be bygones. Let us unanimously support Pranab Mukherjee and show the world that "hum sab ek hai" (we are all united)," Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said.
Coming down heavily on the Congress-led UPA government for increasing petrol prices, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Friday claimed that liquor is now cheaper than petrol.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has criticised Team Anna for pressuring Parliament to get the Lokpal Bill passed. "More than a Lokpal, we need a hangman to execute Afzal Guru, convicted in Parliament attack case," the Sena chief said.
Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday took a jibe at Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray -- for his remarks that Sushma Swaraj is the "only deserving" prime ministerial candidate in the Bharatiya Janata Party -- saying it is premature to say anything at this stage.
This was not Sharad Pawar or Prithviraj Chavan speaking. It was Uddhav Thackeray, the undisputed chief of the Shiv Sena!
The Shiv Sena on Friday said it may shift the temporary memorial to party chief Bal Thackeray, built at the spot where he was cremated last month, on December 17.
Slamming Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani for predicting a non-BJP, non-Congress prime minister in 2014, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday said it is like a general saying before a war that there is no guarantee on the outcome and "demoralising" the entire army.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday welcomed the decision of Team Anna to form a new political outfit and wondered what brought about this "miracle". "Some intellectuals say politics is the last resort of scoundrels. Team Anna is welcome here, but how did this miracle happen," the 86-year-old Sena patriarch said in an edit in party mouthpiece Saamna.
Irked over Shiv Sena's tirade against him over his remarks on north Indians, Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam on Thursday dared the Thackerays to move around without any security cover.
'Many people are in awe of the power wielded by Thackeray. I found that even R K Laxman shared this feeling though both he and Thackeray began as cartoonists in the 1940s. "See how far ahead Thackeray has gone. And here I am," he told me one day in a sad tone,' recalls Vidyadhar Date who assesses Balasaheb Thackeray's political legacy.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Friday virtually defended the attack on Team Anna member and lawyer Prashant Bhushan for his remarks on Kashmir advocating a plebiscite, saying he had paid the price for advocating Pakistan's cause.
Legal experts say such incidents occur due to a lack of understanding of such rules by law enforcement agencies.
The veteran actress, who was Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray's raakhi sister, shares some fond memories.
Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray never compromised on issues of national importance, former BJP president Venkaiah Naidu tells rediff.com's Onkar Singh
Rediff.com Prasanna D Zore captures these poignant moments as Shiv Sena's tiger began his final journey.
Pooja Chauhan, a school teacher and a Shiv Sena unit leader, came to Matoshree as soon as she heard about party supremo Bal Thackeray's sad demise. Pooja, who was sitting on the streets outside Matoshree, tells rediff.com's Patcy Nair what Balasaheb meant to her
For years Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray has enthralled his supporters with his fiery speeches from Shivaji Park at Dadar, central Mumbai. On Sunday, thousands of mourners will pay their last respect to him at the same ground.
Sena spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut said in Mumbai that the party workers would be able to pay last respects to the Sena supremo from 7 am on Sunday at Shivaji Park.
Apart from their now-hot, now-cold uncle-nephew relationship, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and Maharastra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray have something in common both are exceptional cartoonists.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday hit out at former president APJ Abdul Kalam for making a statement after so many years that he was ready to swear in Congress chief Sonia Gandhi as the prime minister after the 2004 polls; calling him "hypocrite" and "shallow".
Having declared his party's support for Pranab Mukherjee in the Presidential poll, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Saturday described him as a "super power" in Congress and said the Opposition should be happy as with his election, the government will become a "lame duck".
Shiv Sena attacked Shobhaa De, saying had Bal Thackeray not done 'dadagiri' to preserve Marathi culture, her forefathers would "have been born in Pakistan" and she would have "attended Page-3 parties in a burqa".
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Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata P president Sudhir Mungantiwar said on Wednesday that the 25-year-old alliance with Shiv Sena would not be snapped although Bal Thackeray's party had extended support to Pranab Mukherjee for presidential polls.
Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Monday came in defence of his party workers and blamed the attack on the 'Maharashtra Times' office on Nationalist Congress Party's state president Madhukar Pichad.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has said Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would lead his party to a third consecutive victory in the December Assembly elections.
The national executive meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party, held in Mumbai, has made it amply clear that no important decisions can be taken in the party by sidelining Narendra Modi, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray said on Saturday.
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.
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