Bal Keshav Thackeray , popularly known as Balasaheb Thackeray, is the founder and chief of the Shiv Sena, a Hindu nationalist, Marathi ethnocentric and populist party active mainly in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.
He started his career as a cartoonist in the Free Press Journal in Mumbai in the 1950s. His cartoons were also published in the Sunday edition of The Times of India. In 1960, he launched a cartoon weekly Marmik with his brother. He used it to campaign against the growing influence of non-Marathi people in Mumbai targetting south indian labor workers.
He formed the Shiv Sena on June 19th, 1966 with the intent of fighting for the rights of the natives of the state of Maharashtra (called Maharashtrians). The early objective of the Shiv Sena was to ensure job security for Maharashtrians against immigrants from southern India, Gujratis and Marwaris.
Politically, the Shiv Sena was anti-Communist, and wrested control of major trade unions in Mumbai from the Communist Party of India and demanded protection money from mainly gujarati and marwari business leaders.
