The Journey of 'Tiger': Bal Thackeray !

The story of Thackerays began with the arrival of Keshav Sitaram Thackeray to Bombay. Keshav Sitaram Thackeray was also known as Prabodhankar Thackeray because of his articles in his fortnightly magazine named Prabodhan.

Keshav Thackeray was born in a lower middle class Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu family .Keshav Thackeray had two sons Bal Thackeray and Shrikant Thackeray.

Keshav was a social activist and a prolific writer. The British tolerated him because of his progressive ideas about the empowerment of women and his strident opposition to the caste system.

Bal Thackeray lost his wife Meena to a heart attack in September 1996, and his eldest son Bindumadhav ( Binda ) to a road accident on 20 April 1996.

Bal Thackeray campaigned against the growing influence of Gujaratis, Marwaris and southern Indian, who dominated Mumbai's trade and industry.

On 19 June 1966, Thackeray launched the Shiv Sena party, a pro Marathi party which thrived on highlighting issues concerning Maharashtrians.

The early objective of the Shiv Sena was to ensure job security for Maharashtrians competing against immigrants from southern India, Gujaratis and Marwaris. Thackeray raised the 'Bhumiputra' (sons of the soil) issue.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Thackeray built the party by forming temporary alliances with nearly all of Maharashtra's political parties.

In the early years, the Shiv Sena was on the fringes of political life, with Congress heavyweights S. K. Patil and Yeshwantrao Chavan dominating state politics.

Thackeray was anti Left since the beginning, and his labour wing werested control of major trade unions in and around Mumbai from the left parties.

In 1995, the Shiv Sena BJP alliance stormed into power, during which Thackeray as the party supremo wielded the remote control over the state government. The government lasted till 1999.

On July 28, 1999 Bal Thackeray was banned from voting and contesting in any election for six years from December 11, 1999 till December 10, 2005 on the recommendations of the Election Commission.

Thackeray was admitted to Lilavati hospital's ICU in Mumbai on 25 July 2012 after he complained of breathlessness.

The Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray, who had been critically ill for the past few days, passed away at his residence Matoshree' in suburban Bandra today, Nov 17, 2012.