Raj Thackeray is the founder and president of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena which is a regional party in the state of Maharashtra in India. He is the nephew of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.
Once seen as the future leader of Shiv Sena, Thackeray started his political career with the Shiv Sena party of Maharashtra. On 9 March 2006, Raj Thackeray formed the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) after being 'sidelined' by the chief’s son Uddhav. Those Shiv Sainiks (Shiv Sena members) who supported Raj’s leadership, in contrast to his cousin Uddhav, joined the MNS. The party was founded on the ideology of being the benefactor of the local Marathi population (Marathi Manoos), an ideology that the party members felt the Shiv Sena had given up on. Keeping in line with its ideology, Raj has repeatedly demanded special job reservations for locals. A critic of the influx of migrants into the state especially Uttar Bhartiyas (literally meaning 'people from North India'), predominantly those from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, he has blamed the large-scale immigration of people from these economically backward states for causing shortage of jobs for the local Maharashtrians.
