Shiv Sena to observe 1st post-Thackeray foundation day today

, June 19: The

will observe its 47th foundation day here on Wednesday. It will be the first time that the party will mark the occasion without its founder

, who passed away last November.

The party has decided not to organize regular entertainment programmes that figure at the anniversary celebration every year and will restrict itself only to a meeting of the party leaders. Party chief Uddhav Thackeray is likely to address the meeting in Shanmukhananda Hall here to set the tone for next year's Lok Sabha elections.
Thackeray will also not accept any felicitation or bouquets on the occasion.

The Sena has invited its leaders from the districts, villages, towns and cities across Maharashtra besides its elected representatives to attend Wednesday's meeting. Party sources, however, did not reveal the agenda of the meeting.
The shiv Sena was founded on June 19, 1966, by cartoonist-turned-politician Bal Thackeray.

The Sena started its political journey as a outfit that emphasised on the rights of the local Maharashtrians over the so-called outsiders and migrants, particularly those from south India.

Later, it grew into a nationalist outfit and even formed a government in Maharashtra in alliance with the BJP in the mid-1990s. The party is a key constituent of the NDA, the BJP-led alliance which has been shrinking fast.

OneIndia News