Uddhav Thackeray

Though Thackeray never took any constitutional post in his political career initially, however after a brief political crisis, on 28 November 2019 he took the oath as 18th Chief minister of Maharashtra after being elected as the president of the newly formed post-poll coalition Maha Vikas Aghadi.[4][5][15][16]

In a 2021 Prashnam Survey, Thackeray was ranked the most popular Chief Minister in India out of 13 states, with nearly half of all voters surveyed said that they will vote for him again.[17]

Thackeray has committed Maharashtra to leading the effort against climate change, as the state considers a radical plan to deregister vehicles that run on diesel or petrol by 2030.[18] He plans for the city of Mumbai to become a climate-resilient metropolis which is carbon-neutral by 2050, which is 20 years before India's target for carbon neutrality.[18]

Following a rebellion within his party and resulting political crisis on 29 June 2022, Thackeray resigned from the post of Chief Minister of Maharashtra ahead of a floor test ordered by BJP appointed governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Thackeray challenged the order in the Supreme Court of India citing the pending disqualification motion of the rebel MLAs, but the Supreme Court refused to stay the floor test.[6]

Uddhav Thackeray took over as the leader of Shiv Sena in 2012 after his father, Bal Thackeray, died. However, in recent years, his leadership of the party has been challenged. After Eknath Shinde established the government in Maharashtra, he began using the Shiv Sena name and symbols without Uddhav Thackeray, leading to a leadership dispute within the party. Despite challenging this in court and before the Election Commission of India, Uddhav Thackeray's faction was ultimately unsuccessful in its bid to maintain control over the party, as the commission recognized Eknath Shinde's faction as the legitimate Shiv Sena party.[19]

The Election Commission of India mandates that every political party follows a democratic process. In 2018, Uddhav Thackeray oversaw changes to the Shiv Sena party constitution that were criticized for centralizing control of the party and not allowing for free, fair, and transparent elections for party positions. The Election Commission of India deemed these amendments undemocratic, further eroding Uddhav Thackeray's control over the party.[20]

More recently, Uddhav Thackeray faced a significant challenge to his leadership when Eknath Shinde, a key member of the party, called for breaking the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance and re-establishing an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Despite gathering support from two-thirds of his party members, Uddhav Thackeray ignored their requests, leading to a political crisis that resulted in his resignation as Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Through a legal battle, Eknath Shinde claimed that he had the support of the majority of Shiv Sena members, and the Election Commission of India recognized his faction as the legitimate Shiv Sena party, effectively granting him control over the party.[21]

Thackeray is married to Rashmi Thackeray and has two sons, Aaditya and Tejas.[31]

Rashmi Thackeray (née Patankar) is the editor of Saamana and Marmik. She is the daughter of Madhav Patankar who runs his family business and comes from a middle-class family and also a RSS member. She lived in suburban Dombivli and did her Bachelor of Commerce degree from V G Vaze College in Mulund. She joined the Life Insurance Corporation of India as a contract employee in 1987. She became the friend of Raj Thackeray 's sister Jaywanti and through her came into contact with Uddhav Thackeray. Later they got married in 1989.[32][33][34]

The elder son Aaditya is the president of the Yuva Sena. He was served as Cabinet Minister of Tourism and Environment Government of Maharashtra.[35]

The younger son Tejas is an Indian conservationist and wildlife researcher.[31]