Uddhav Bal Thackeray (Marathi pronunciation: [ud̪ʱːəʋ ʈʰaːkɾeː], born 27 July 1960) is an Indian politician who served as the 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra[3][5][6][7] from 2019 to 2022 and the Leader of the House, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 2019 to 2022. He is a member of Maharashtra Legislative Council since 2020, the president of Maha Vikas Aghadi since 2019 and the president of Shiv Sena (UBT) since 2022. He was also the leader (pramukh) of Shiv Sena from 2013 to 2022, working President from 2003 to 2013 and the editor-in-chief of Saamana from 2006 to 2019.[8] During his tenure from 2019 to 2022, he was ranked as the most popular Chief Minister in India in a survey conducted out of 13 states.[9][10]
In 2002, Thackeray started his political career as campaign in-charge of Shiv Sena in the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections. In 2003, he was appointed as working president of Shiv Sena. Thackeray took over as chief editor of Saamana (a daily Marathi-language newspaper published by Shiv Sena) in 2006 and resigned in 2019 before becoming chief minister of Maharashtra.[14]
A split in Shiv Sena happened when his cousin Raj Thackeray left the party in 2006 to form his own party named Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.[15] After the death of his father Bal Thackeray in 2012, he led the party and was elected as Shiv Sena president in 2013, and under his leadership Shiv Sena joined the NDA government in Maharashtra in 2014.[16]
Thackeray has committed Maharashtra to leading the effort against climate change, as the state considers a radical plan to deregister vehicles that run on diesel or petrol by 2030.[20] He plans for the city of Mumbai to become a climate-resilient metropolis which is carbon-neutral by 2050, which is 20 years before India's target for carbon neutrality.[20]
Thackeray took over as the leader of Shiv Sena in 2012 after his father, Bal Thackeray, died. However, in recent years, his leadership of the party has been challenged. After Eknath Shinde established the government in Maharashtra, he began using the Shiv Sena name and symbols without Uddhav Thackeray, leading to a leadership dispute within the party. Despite challenging this in court and before the Election Commission of India, Thackeray's faction was ultimately unsuccessful in its bid to maintain control over the party, as the commission recognised Eknath Shinde's faction as the legitimate Shiv Sena party.[21]
Change in bylaws
The Election Commission of India mandates that every political party follows a democratic process. In 2018, Thackeray oversaw changes to the Shiv Sena party constitution that were criticised for centralising control of the party and not allowing for free, fair, and transparent elections for party positions. The Election Commission of India deemed these amendments undemocratic, further eroding his control over the party.[22]
Eknath Shinde's challenge and takeover
More recently, Thackeray faced a significant challenge to his leadership when Eknath Shinde, a key member of the party, called for breaking the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance and re-establishing an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Despite gathering support from two-thirds of his party members, Thackeray ignored their requests, leading to a political crisis that resulted in his resignation as Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Through a legal battle, Eknath Shinde claimed that he had the support of the majority of Shiv Sena members, and the Election Commission of India recognised his faction as the legitimate Shiv Sena party, effectively granting him control over the party.[23]
Personal life
Thackeray has always had a keen interest in photography and has exhibited his collection of aerial shots of various forts of Maharashtra at the Jehangir Art Gallery in 2004.[24][25] He has also taken photographs of wildlife including those of the Kanha, Gir, Ranthambore, Bharatpur national parks. Due to these experiences he named his first photography exhibition in 1999 as "Live and Let Live".[26] He has also published photo-booksMaharashtra Desh (2010)[27] and Pahava Vitthal (2011), capturing various aspects of Maharashtra and the warkaris during Pandharpur Wari respectively in the two books.[28][29]
On 16 July 2012, Thackeray was admitted to Lilavati Hospital after he reported chest pain. He underwent an angioplasty and all the three blockages in his arteries were successfully removed.[30] On 12 November 2021, he underwent a cervical spine surgery at the HN Reliance Hospital.[31][32]
Rashmi Thackeray (née Patankar) is the editor of Saamana and Marmik. She is the daughter of Madhav Patankar, who runs his family business and is also an RSS member. She lived in suburban Dombivli and did her Bachelor of Commerce degree from V G Vaze College in Mulund. She joined the Life Insurance Corporation of India as a contract employee in 1987. She became the friend of Raj Thackeray 's sister Jaywanti and came into contact with Thackeray through her. Later, they got married in 1989.[35][36][37]
^As Chief Minister, Thackeray directly handled portfolios for General Administration, Law and the Judiciary, Information and Public Relations, Information Technologies, and any other departments not allocated to another minister.[1]
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