About Raj Thackeray

Raj Thackeray was born on June. 14, 1968 in a Marathi Kayastha (CKP) family to Shrikant Prabhodankar Thackeray and Kunda Thackeray, Shrikant Thackeray was the younger brother of Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray and Raj’s mother Kunda Thackeray is the younger sister of Balasaheb Thackeray’s wife Meena Thackeray. Raj’s father Shrikant Thackeray was a musician, cartoonist and was also well versed in the language of Urdu. He also made a couple of Marathi films. Raj is married to Sharmila, daughter of famous Marathi theatre/films actor, producer-director Mohan Wagh they have a son together named Amit Thackeray.

Raj Thackrey did his schooling from Bal Mohan Vidya Mandir School in the central Mumbai suburb of Dadar, close to his residence in Shivaji Park and later on graduated fom the prestigious Sir J.J College of Art.

Like his father and uncle Raj Thackeray is a gifted painter and cartoonist. He had also expressed his desire to work for Walt Disney Studios. Raj Thackeray said when asked what he would have done had he not joined politics. “In my college days, I wanted to work with Walt Disney Studios. I drew cartoons even before my foray in politics. Film making is also a passion. I would have been doing either of these things.

Raj Thackeray is also a avid photographer like his cousin Uddhav Thackeray. Raj has also published a photobiography on his uncle titled ‘Bal Keshav Thackeray – a photobiography. Ironically Raj Thackeray inaugrated this book from the hands of Amitabh Bachchan whom he had later criticized later.

Once seen as the future leader of Shiv Sena, Thackeray started his political career with Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena party in Maharashtra. On 9 March 2006, Raj Thackeray formed the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) after being allegedly ‘sidelined’ by the Bal Thackeray’s son Uddhav. Shiv Sainiks (Shiv Sena members) who supported Raj’s leadership, in contrast to his cousin Uddhav (Bal Thackeray’s son), joined the MNS. The party was founded on the ideology of being the benefactor of the local Marathi population (Marathi Manoos), an ideology that the party members felt the Shiv Sena had given up on.

He first became a controversial political figure in India in early 2008 due to his rhetorical speech against people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar; this includes statements against actor Amitabh Bachchan and the Mumbai Police Commissioner. He blamed north Indians immigration into the state of Maharastra as the reason for a shortage of jobs for the native Maharashtrians.

Some political pundits attributed Thackarey’s support for migrant issue an election gimmick and an attempt at gaining publicity for 2009 elections in the state. Others called it a strategy to embarrass Shiv Sena, which is increasingly wooing north Indian votes.

Thackeray, along with Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi, was arrested by the Mumbai Police on February 13, 2008 under section Section 135 A of the Indian Penal Code. He was granted bail on the same day. On 1 October 2008, a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued by a Bihar court against him for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Biharis.

On 25 September 2008, Bombay High Court Justice J N Patel compared Thackeray’s actions to terrorism.

On 6 October 2008, Shiv Sena activists held rallies against Raj Thackeray after he suggested that Bal Thackeray no longer wrote the editorials for the Shiv Sena party newspaper Saamana in order to explain away negative coverage of himself without criticizing his mentor.

During a “Non-Resident Maharashtrian Day” interview with Maharashtra Times, Thackeray claimed that if he had been Chief Minister of Maharashtra the Tata Nano would have been produced in the state in spite of his record of job destruction. He again called non-Marathis residing or born in the state outsiders who are now living in fear thanks to his actions and claimed that future agitations of his party will be even more intense.

On 19 October 2008, Minister of Railways Lalu Prasad Yadav called Thackeray a ‘mental case’ because of attacks on non-Marathi job seekers attempting to take the railway board examinations by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists. Raj Thackeray justified the attacks saying that recruitment ads were not placed in the local language newspapers. Then on the next day some members of the Lok Sabha demanded that Thackeray be charged with treason for the attacks. On 21 October 2008, Thackery was arrested on charges of rioting, which sparked further violent protests by MNS activists. Later that day he was denied bail for the Dombivli-Kalyan case and was assigned to a two-week judicial custody.

On 24 October 2008, Jagdish Prasad filed a murder charge against Thackeray for the death of his son, Pawan Kumar, during the railway exam riots.

On 27 October 2008, a hijacker, Rahul Raj, took over a BEST bus carrying a revolver. He said that he wanted to talk to the Mumbai Police Commissioner, and that he wanted to kill Raj Thackeray. After he had fired upon another passenger, injuring the latter seriously, police police fired at, and killed, him.

Pre-MNS controversies

In July 1996, Ramesh Kini was found dead in a cinema theatre in Pune. Kini was a tenant in a ramshackle tenement in central Mumbai, whose landlord, Laxmikant Shah, was trying to get him out of the house. Shah also happened to be a close childhood friend of Raj Thackeray. Kini’s wife, Sheila, then accused Raj and other Shivsena workers of threatening Ramesh to leave the house. A CBI enquiry was later issued for the case, but the CBI acquitted Raj the murder, dismissing the case as one of suicide.

Kohinoor mill contoversy

On 21 July 2005 a five acre plot of land, Kohinoor Mill No. 3, located across the road from the Shiv Sena party headquarters, Sena Bhavan, in Dadar, Mumbai, was purchased by Raj and Unmesh Joshi (son of former Maharashtra Chief Minister and former Lok Sabha speaker Manohar Joshi) for a whopping Rs 421 crore. The NCP leader from Mumbai, Sachin Ahir, then objected to the sale of the Kohinoor Mill land, saying that there were forty bids, yet only three were short-listed. He demanded a re-bid as there was a lack of transparency in the move. The Home Minister of Maharashtra, R.R Patil, also questioned how did Raj Thackeray managed to get 421 crores.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (Marathi: महाराष्ट्र नवनिर्माण सेना, Maharashtra Reconstruction Army; “Navnirman” may also mean “Rejuvenation” and “Renewal”) is a regional political party operating in Maharashtra, India. It was founded on the 9th of March 2006 in Mumbai after splitting of the parent party Shiv Sena. Its president and founder is Raj Thackeray.

Foundation

The party was founded by Raj Thackeray, nephew of Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray. Raj Thackeray resigned from his uncle’s party in January 2006 and announced his intention to start a new political party. The reason given by him for breaking away from the Shiv Sena was that the latter was “run by petty clerks” because of which it had “fallen from its former glory”.

At the time of the party’s foundation, Raj Thackeray stated that he does not want to have hostilities with his uncle who “was, is and always will be (his) mentor”.

Elected representative

Since the party’s foundation in 2006, 4 Municipal Corporations have seen elected representatives of MNS.

Controversies

2008 violence against North Indians in Maharashtra

In February 2008, some MNS activists clashed with Samajwadi Party (SP) party workers in Mumbai when Samajwadi Party supporters attended a rally at Shivaji Park, Dadar, Mumbai, a stronghold of MNS, where Samajwadi Party leader, Abu Asim Azmi made a fiery speech. After the clashes, 73 MNS activists and 19 SP workers were arrested by Mumbai Police for indulging in violence.

On February 6, 2008, reportedly, about 200 Maharashtra Navnirman Sena party workers quit the party and joined Shiv Sena to protest against MNS’s so-called anti-north Indian agenda.

A petition was filed in the Patna civil court on February 8th against Thackeray for his alleged remarks over Chhath, Bihar’s most popular festival. Mr. Thackeray maintains he is not against Chhath Puja, but against the “show of arrogance” displayed by some people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar on this occasion.

On February 10, 2008, MNS workers attacked vendors and shopkeepers from North India in various parts of Maharashtra, and destroyed government property to vent their anger against the reported move to arrest Raj Thackeray. Nashik police detained 26 MNS workers for the violence.

In February 2008, Raj Thackarey’s speech on the issue of uncontrolled migration into Mumbai from other parts of India created a well publicized controversy. Maharashtra’s economy leads other states in India and its capital Mumbai has become a magnet to migrant population from states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. MNS supporters clashed with activists of the Samajwadi Party, a regional party from Uttar Pradesh leading to street violence. Thackeray also criticized noted film actor turned politician Amitabh Bachchan, a native of Uttar Pradesh, for taking sides in the migrant issue. Bachchan came into fame and fortune in Mumbai’s film industry – Bollywood.

On September 8, 2008, Infosys Technologies announced that 3,000 employee positions had been shifted from Pune due to construction delays caused earlier that year by MNS attacks on North Indian construction workers in Maharashtra.

On 15 October 2008, Thackeray threatened to shut down Jet Airways operations in Maharashtra if they did not rehire probationary employees that had been shed in a cost cutting move forced by the economic downturn.

In October 2008, MNS activists beat up North Indian candidates appearing for the all-India Railway Recruitment Board entrance exam for the Western region in Mumbai. One bihari died in the ensuing rioting. In retaliation for the MNS’ attack on biharis and north indians in general, the Bharatiya Bhojpuri Sangh attacked the residence of a Marathi official of Tata Motors in Jamshedpur. Following the uproar in the Indian parliament, and calls that there was no pressure to arrest the MNS chief, Raj Thackeray was arrested in the early hours of October 21. He was produced before a court on the day itself and would return the next day after spending the night in jail. Following the arrest, however, MNS party activists took out their anger on parts of Mumbai city and the region at large. The arrest resulted in applause, fear and calls for a ban on the MNS. The Shiv Sena, however, maintained a cool response, although senior party leader Manohar Joshi said they were close to supporting the MNS in their agitation against the non-Marathi candidates for the railway board exam