Shiv Sena (शिवसेना) is a Hindu nationalist political organisation in India founded on 19 June 1966 by hindu hridaysamrat Bal Thackeray. The party originally emerged from a movement in Mumbai demanding preferential treatment for Maharashtrians over migrants to the city. The party has a powerful hold over the Bollywood film industry. It is currently headed by Thackeray’s son, Uddhav Thackeray. Members of Shiv Sena are referred to as Shiv Sainiks.

Although the party’s primary base is still in Maharashtra, it has tried to expand to a pan-Indian base. In the 1970s, it gradually moved from solely advocating a pro-Marathi ideology, to one supporting a broader Hindu nationalist agenda as it aligned itself with the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is commonly called an “extremist and “chauvinist” party as well as a “Hindu extremist” and fascist party. The party has taken part in numerous Maharashtra state governments at several times and was a coalition partner in the National Democratic Alliance cabinet that ruled India between 1998–2004.

The Shiv Sena especially attracted a large number of disgruntled and often unemployed Marathi youth, who were attracted by Thackeray’s charged anti-migrant oratory. In its early days, the Shiv Sena followed an anti-South agenda and its slogan was “Pungi Bajao, Lungi Bhagao”. Shiv Sena cadres became involved in various attacks against the South Indian communities, vandalising South Indian restaurants and pressuring employers to hire Marathis.

The Sena started placing more weight on the Hindutva ideology in the 1970s as the hallmark ‘sons of the soil’ cause was weakening. The party has ruled the state in coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from 1995–99. The Sena is the opposition party in the state along with the BJP since 1999. The Shiv Sena-BJP combine governs the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Traditionally the main strongholds of Shiv Sena have been Mumbai and the Konkan coastal areas. However, in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections the result was reversed. The Shiv Sena made inroads in the interior parts of the state, while suffering losses in Mumbai.

The Shiv Sena-BJP combine won the 1995 Maharasthra state elections. After assuming state government power, Shiv Sena began to redress its organisation. A ‘Shivsena Rajyapramukh Parishad’ convention was held in Mumbai six months after the election. At the meeting a large number of local party leaders and representatives of various wings of the party participated. The meeting filled the function of reorienting the party organisation to adapt to the new tasks of being a party in government.It renamed Bombay as Mumbai.

As the Pramukh (Chief) of the party, Bal Thackeray took all major decisions and claimed that he ran the Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government of 1995 to 1999 with what he called a ‘remote control.’ Activists and members of the Shiv Sena call themselves Shiv Sainiks, and carry out most of the party’s grassroots work. During his last days, Bal Thackeray did not concern himself with day-to-day activities of the party, which was run by his youngest son Uddhav Thackeray. The recently refurbished Sena Bhavan located in the Dadar locality in Mumbai has served as the headquarters of the Sena since 1976. The Sena’s shakhas (Branches) spread throughout the state of Maharashtra as well as in selected locations in other states decide upon most of the local issues in their particular cities or towns. Aditya Thackeray, son of Shivsena Paksha pramukh Uddhav Thackeray is working as the Youth Leader of the party.

Official Website : http://www.shivsena.org/

Shivsena in 2009 Loksabha elections:

Constituency	Members
Buldhana	Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav
Amravati	Anandrao Vithoba Adsul
Yavatmal-Washim	Bhavana Pundlikrao Gawali (Patil)
Hingoli	Subhash Bapurao Wankhede
Parbhani	Ganeshrao Nagorao Dudhgaonkar
Aurangabad	Chandrakant Khaire
Kalyan	Anand Prakash Paranjape
Raigad	Anant Geete
Maval	Gajanan Dharmshi Babar
Shirur	Shivaji Dattatray Adhalrao
Shirdi	Bhausaheb Rajaram Wakchaure

Shivsena in Vidhansabha elections:

Constituency	Members
Dhule Rural	Sharad Patil
Jalgaon City	Sureshkumar Bhikamchand Jain
Erandol	Chimanrao Rupchand Patil
Buldhana	Vijayraj Haribhau Shinde
Mehkar	Sanjay Bhaskar Raimulkar
Akot	Sanjay Laxman Gawande
Daryapur	Abhijit Anandrao Adsul
Hinganghat	Ashok Shamraoji Shinde
Ramtek	Ashish Nandkishor Jaiswal (Wakil)
Bhandara	Narendra Bhojraj Bhondekar
Digras	Sanjay Dulichand Rathod
Parbhani	Sanjay (Bandu) Haribhau Jadhav
Pathri	Mira Kalyanrao Renge
Badnapur	Santosh Vasantlal Sambre
Aurangabad West	Sanjay Pandurang Shirsat
Vaijapur	R. M. Vani
Malegaon Outer	Dadaji Dagadu Bhuse
Niphad	Anil Sahebrao Kadam
Dindori	Dhanraj Haribhau Mahale
Deolali	Baban Shankar Gholap
Shahapur	Daulat Bhika Daroda
Bhiwandi East	Rupesh Mhatre
Ambarnath	Balaji Kinikar
Ovala-Majiwada	Pratap Baburao Sarnaik
Kopri-Pachpakhadi	Eknath Sambhaji Shinde
Thane	Rajan Vichare
Dahisar	Vinod Ramachandra Ghosalkar
Jogeshwari East	Ravindra Dattaram Waikar
Goregaon	Subhash Desai
Vandre East	Prakash (Bala) Vasant Sawant
Mahad	Bharatshet Gogawale
Purandar	Vijay Sopanrao Shivatare
Kothrud	Chandrakant Balbhim Mokate
Hadapsar	Mahadeo Ramachandra Babar
Kopargaon	Ashokrao Shankarrao Kale
Parner	Vijayrao Bhaskarrao Auti
Ahmednagar City	Anil Bhayya Ramkisan Rathod
Umarga	Dayanraj Dhondiram Chougule
Osmanabad	Rajenimbalkar Omprakash Bhupalsinha Alias Pawanraje
Dapoli	Suryakant Shivram Dalvi
Chiplun	Sadanand Narayan Chavan
Rajapur	Rajan Salvi
Karveer	Chandradip Shashikant Narake
Kolhapur North	Rajesh Vinayakrao Kshirsagar
Hatkanangale	Sujit Vasantrao Minachekar

Shivsena Maharashtra Candidate List for Loksabha Election 2014:

Constituency	Members
5 - Buldhana	Shri. Prataprao Jadhav
7 - Amravati	Shri. Aanandrao Adsul
9 - Ramtek	Shri. Krupal Tumane
14 - Yavtmal -Vashim	Ms. Bhavna Gavli
15 - Hingoli	Shri. Shubhash Vankhede
17 - Parbhani	Shri. Sanjay Bandu Patil
19 - Aurangabad	Shri. Chandrakant Khaire
21 - Nashik	Shri. Hemant Godse
24 - Kalyan	Dr.Shrikant Shinde
25 - Thane	Shri. Rajan Vichare
27 - Mumbai North-west	Shri. Gajanan Kirtikar
30 - South-Central Mumbai	Shri. Rahul Shevale
31 - South Mumbai	Shri. Arvind Sawant
32 - Raigad	Shri. Anant Gite
33 - Maval	Shri. Shrirang Barane
36 - Shirur	Shri. Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil
38 - Shirdi	Shri. Sadashiv Lokhande
40 - Usmanabad	Shri. Ravi Gaykvad
46- Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg	Shri. Vinayak Raut
47 - Kholapur	Shri. Sanjay Mandlik