Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena (1966–2022) (Śiva Sēnā; lit. 'Army of Shivaji'; abbr. SS) was a conservative Marathi regionalist Hindutva-based political party in India founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, who was later succeeded by Uddhav Thackeray. The party has split into two parties: the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) which has a new symbol of Mashaal (Torch) and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena (2022) which has the original party name and the "bow and arrow" symbol. Initially apolitical, the organisation was patronised by the then Chief Minister Vasantrao Naik who used it for curbing trade unions and maintain stranglehold of the Congress. The organisation at the same time carried out pro-Marathi nativist movement in Mumbai in which it agitated for preferential treatment for the Marathi people over migrants from other parts of India. Although Shiv Sena's primary base always remained in Maharashtra, it tried to expand to a pan-Indian base. In the 1970s, it gradually moved from advocating a pro-Marathi ideology to supporting a broader Hindu nationalist agenda, and aligned itself with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Shiv Sena took part in Mumbai (BMC) municipal elections for its entire existence. In 1989, it entered into an alliance with the BJP for Lok Sabha as well as Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections. The alliance in the latter was temporarily broken in the 2014 elections due to seat sharing adjustment, although it was quickly reformed. Shiv Sena was one of the founding members of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 1998, and it also participated in Vajpayee Government from 1998 to 2004 and the Narendra Modi Government from 2014 to 2019. After 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election, the party left the alliance after disagreements with BJP over the CM post. Under Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena formed an alliance with its historic rivals, the...