However, Balasaheb—as he was also called—was instrumental in ending the Congress hegemony in Maharashtra when his party and the BJP allied and formed a government in 1994. Though the two parties shared power in New Delhi between 1998 and 2004, Thackeray never occupied any office.
Balasaheb later began sporting a stylish beard and wore twin bead necklaces in the manner of Hindu gurus and ran the Shiv Sena like a local militia.
Active till the end, Bal Thackeray, who never hesitated to practice his particular brand of street politics, had just days ago on Nov 5 asked party activists “not to permit” the forthcoming cricket matches between India and Pakistan.
