The saffron, ultra-right party is now celebrating the golden jubilee of its founding. Here's the timeline.
June 19, 1966: Political cartoonist Bal Thackeray formed Shiv Sena. The party was named by Bal Thackeray’s father Keshav Thackeray.
The party was formed to build a movement so that job opportunities in Mumbai would go to Marathi job aspirants.
1967: Shiv Sena wins 17 out of 40 seats in Thane’s civic polls.
1968: Shiv Sena enters the political framework of Bombay by winning up to 42 seats of the total 121 in the civic elections.
1969: Bal Thackeray gets arrested for inciting a border dispute with Karnataka. Mumbai Bandh allegedly incited violence for three days.
1970: Shiv Sena workers arrested for the murder of Communist rival Krishna Desai. Krishna Desai was an MLA who represented Parel. Wamanrao Mahadik, a Shiv Sena leader, was appointed as MLA from Parel.
1975: Bal Thackeray publicly supports the Emergency imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
1984: Bal Thackeray convinces BJP’s Pramod Mahajan to contest under the BJP’s party symbol as Shiv Sena did not have one. But, the alliance was not very fruitful.
1985: Sena manage to win 75 seats in Mumbai’s civic polls and comes to power at Mumbai’s municipal corporation.
1989: Shiv Sena forms an alliance with BJP for Lok Sabha as well as Maharashtra Assembly elections. Sena’s newspaper Saamna is launched.
1990: Sena wins 52 seats in Maharashtra Assembly polls and Manohar Joshi becomes the leader of opposition.
1991: Bal Thackeray being anti-Mandal Commission report, close aide Chhagan Bhujbal resigns from the party. Bhujbal joins Congress.
1992: Bal Thackeray makes anti-muslim remarks. Shiv Sena loses Mumbai municipal corporation elections to the Congress.
1995: Shiv Sena and BJP alliance comes to power for the first time in Maharashtra. SS wins 73 seats. Manohar Joshi becomes the CM of the state.
1998: Shiv Sena indicted by Srikrishna Commission for its role in the Mumbai riots of December 1992, post Babri Mosque demolition in Ayodhya.
1999: The Shiv Sena and BJP alliance loses Maharashtra to Congress-NCP in Assembly elections.
2003: Uddhav Thackeray, son of Bal Thackeray appointed as executive president of Shiv Sena.
2006: Raj Thackeray, nephew of Bal Thackeray resigns from Shiv Sena and forms Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
2009: Fails to win the Assembly elections. In November, Shiv Sena activists vandalise the offices of Hindi and Marathi TV news channels IBN7 and IBN Lokmat for their criticisms of Bal Thackeray.
2012: Shiv Sena retains power at Mumbai’s civic body by winning 75 seats.
In November, Bal Thackeray, 86, dies after a cardiac arrest.
Uddhav Thackeray becomes the party president.
2014: Breaks alliance with the BJP and wins 63 seats contesting the Assembly elections independently. Post-election, supports the BJP and becomes part of the ruling alliance.
2015: Shiv Sena imposes ban on a scheduled concert by Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali.
Published - June 18, 2016 10:43 pm IST
