PM condoles Thackeray's death, cancels dinner with BJP

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed his condolences over the death of Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray and cancelled his dinner on Saturday night with the BJP leaders. "For him the interests of Maharashtra were particularly important and he always strived to inculcate a sense of pride in its people. He founded the Shiv Sena and built the party into a formidable force in the state politics with his strong leadership," said Manmohan in a statement.

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UPA chief Sonia Gandhi also expressed grief over Thackeray's death. "Shiv Sena was known because after his name. We pray for his family and supporters. May the almighty give them power to pass through this tough phase," said Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi.

Union minister and Congress MP Milind Deora too expressed sorrow on the death of the 86-year-old leader. "Ideologies and politics aside, Balasaheb was unique and his influence on Maharashtra politics is undeniable. Often imitated but never duplicated," Deora tweeted.

The 86-year-old Thackeray, who founded the Shiv Sena in 1966 to fight for the rights of Maharashtrians, was suffering from lungs and pancreatic ailments and had been put on life-support system for the last few days. Announcing his death outside Thackeray residence 'Matoshree', the doctor said that Balasaheb breathed his last at 3.30 pm on Saturday.

According to sources, the funeral procession of the Shiv Sena founder would begin at 10 am on Sunday and Thackeray is likely to be cremated at 4 pm at Shivaji Park crematorium.

Thackeray launched Shiv Sena's mouthpiece Saamna in 1989 where he would target his political opponents and the immigrants to Maharashtra in the most vitriolic language. Shiv Sena joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and won the 1995 Maharashtra State Assembly elections and came to power. For more than four decades, Thackeray ran the Sena with an iron fist. He was a bit like the Godfather of a political party, revered by his supporters and feared by his critics.

For the Shiv Sena, the 1992-93 riots confirmed Thackeray's status as a charismatic larger than life figure. The Shiv Sena became a partner in power in Maharashtra for the first time in 1995. Typically, Thackeray chose to stay away from the chief minister's chair, preferring to be the autocratic remote control, an individual feared by Mumbai's rich and powerful.