MP Guv, CM, other State leaders condole death of Thackeray

Political leaders cutting across the party lines paid rich tributes to the Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray who passed away in Mumbai on Saturday afternoon.

Yadav described Thackeray as "a vocal nationalist who devoted his life for the conservation and honour of Indian culture and traditions," official sources said today.

Terming the demise of Thackeray as an irreparable loss,Chouhan said in his condolence message that an era has ended with the passing away of a true nationalist leader who had a multi-faceted personality.

He (Thackeray) was a patriot and a vocal supporter of the nationalist thought, Chouhan said.Madhya Pradesh Culture Minister Laxmikant Sharma also condoled the death of Thackeray.Chouhan is in Mumbai to take part in the last rites of Thackeray.

Lakhs of people converged  since early Sunday as Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray's final journey started from his residence Matoshri in suburban Bandra.

Wrapped in the tricolour, Thackeray's body was brought out of his house a little after 9 a.m. His son, Uddhav, broke down just before the funeral procession started. A glass box carrying the 86-year-old Sena patriarch's body was then loaded onto a flower bedecked truck.

Uddhav, his wife Rashmi and son Aditya were on the same truck, along with Thackeray's nephew and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj, his wife Sharmila and their children.

Thackeray's cortege will first go to Sena Bhavan, the party headquarters in Dadar, and the body would later be kept at Shivaji Park for people to pay their last respects.

The President Pranab Mukherjee, while condoling the demise of Thackeray, said that the nation has lost a veteran leader who worked to help the common man.

The President in his condolence letter to Thackeray’s son Uddhav noted that he was “extremely sad to learn about the passing away” of Balasaheb Thackeray. “Shri Thackeray’s passing away is a loss for the people of Maharashtra and India. His contributions in the field of media added a different perspective to the political discourse,” Mr Mukherjee stated in his letter.