Editing Bal Thackeray (section)

== Legacy ==
Thackeray was called ''Hindū Hṛdaya Samrāṭa'' ({{Lit|Emperor of Hindu Hearts}}) by his supporters.<ref>{{cite book |title=Hindu Nationalism and Governance |author=John McGuire, Ian Copland |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007|quote=described as the 'Supremo' of the Shiv Sena, goes by the nickname 'Hindu Hriday Samrat' or 'Emperor of the Hindu Heart'}}</ref> His yearly address at [[Shivaji Park]] was popular among his followers. In 2012, he instead gave a video-taped speech and urged his followers "to give the same love and affection to his son and political heir Uddhav as they had given him".<ref name=":0" /> Thackeray was known to convert popular sentiment into votes, getting into controversies and making no apologies for it though his son has tried to tone down the party's stance after his death.<ref name=":0" /> He was known for his inflammatory writings,<ref name=":4" /> was seen as a good orator who used cruel humour to engage his audience.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> He had a large political influence throughout the state, especially in Mumbai.<ref name=":2" /> His party never had any formal internal elections nor was he ever formally elected as its chief at any point.<ref name=":0" /> [[Gyan Prakash]] said, "Of course, the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement had mobilized Marathi speakers as a political entity, but it was Thackeray who successfully deployed it as an anti-immigrant, populist force."<ref name="Prakash2010" />
He inspired Baliram Kashyap the leader of Bastar who often regarded as the Thackeray of Bastar.

A memorial for him was proposed at Shivaji Park but legal issues and opposition from local residents continue to delay it.<ref>{{Cite book
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JS1hBAAAQBAJ
| title = Bal Thackeray and the rise of Shiv Sena
| last = Purandare
| first = Vaibhav
| date = 27 February 2013
| publisher = Roli Books Private Limited
| isbn = 9788174369918
| pages = 23–27
| language = en
}}</ref>

Thackeray is satirised in [[Salman Rushdie]]'s 1995 novel ''[[The Moor's Last Sigh]]'' as 'Raman Fielding'. The book was banned by the Maharashtra state government.<ref>{{cite news |last=Burns |first=John F. |author-link=John F. Burns |title=New Delhi Journal; Another Rushdie Novel, Another Bitter Epilogue |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/02/world/new-delhi-journal-another-rushdie-novel-another-bitter-epilogue.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=2 December 1995 |access-date=17 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808185219/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/02/world/new-delhi-journal-another-rushdie-novel-another-bitter-epilogue.html |archive-date=8 August 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Suketu Mehta]] interviewed Thackeray in his critically acclaimed, [[Pulitzer Prize|Pulitzer-nominated]], non-fiction 2004 book ''[[Maximum City]]''.