Balasaheb Keshav Thackeray (23 January 1926 – 17 November 2012) was an Indian politician, founder and chief of the Shiv Sena, a right-wing Hindu nationalist, and Marathi ethnocentric party active mainly in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. His followers called him the Hindu Hriday Samraat ("Emperor of Hindu Hearts").
Thackeray began his professional career as a cartoonist with the English language daily The Free Press Journal in Mumbai, but left it in 1960 to form his own political weekly Marmik. His political philosophy was largely shaped by his father Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, a leading figure in the Samyukta Maharashtra movement (United Maharashtra movement), which advocated the creation of a separate linguistic state of Maharashtra. In 1966, Thackeray formed the Shiv Sena party to advocate more strongly the place of Maharashtrians in Mumbai's political and professional landscape. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Thackeray built the party by forming temporary alliances with nearly all of Maharashtra's political parties.Thackeray was also the founder of the Marathi-language newspaper Saamana and the Hindi-language newspaper Dopahar ka saamana. He was the subject of numerous controversies.Upon his death, he was accorded a state funeral with over 2,000,000 mourners.
Thackeray death was announced at 17:00 by his doctor Jaleel Parkar on 17 November at "Matoshree", his Mumbai residence, following cardio-respiratory arrest at 15:33 local time, according to his physician.A vigil was held outside his house that night.Mumbai came to virtual halt immediately after his death, with shops and commercial establishments closed, while auto rickshaws and taxis also stayed off streets; even pharmacies and other essential good stores wee closed. Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation announced that it would run additional services, along with BEST. The whole of Maharashtra was put on alert, while Mumbai had an additional 20,000 Mumbai police officers, 15 units of the State Reserve Police Force and three contingents of the Rapid Action Force were deployed. An unnamed police officer said: "Nobody has been asked to shut their shops or malls. Everybody closed their shops voluntarily. Autorickshaws and taxis also voluntarily stopped plying on the roads."
The funeral included state honours, such as a guard of honour and a 21-gun salute.
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