Aaditya Thackeray

Aaditya Uddhav Thackeray (born 13 June 1990)^[2] is an Indian politician who served as a Cabinet Minister of Higher Education, Cabinet Minister of Tourism and Environment for the Government of Maharashtra. He is also an MLA of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from Worli, Mumbai. He is the son of Uddhav Thackeray, an Indian politician who served as the 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra, leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT), and grandson of Balasaheb Thackeray.^[3] He is the President of Yuva Sena, a youth wing of Shiv Sena. He was a Maharashtra Cabinet minister and was inducted as a cabinet minister in the state cabinet on 30 December 2019.

Aaditya Thackeray
Thackeray in New Delhi, February 2020
Cabinet Minister Government of Maharashtra
In office 30 December 2019 – 29 June 2022
Governor	Bhagat Singh Koshiyari
Chief Minister	Uddhav Thackeray
Ministry and Departments	Environment and Climate Change Tourism Protocol Higher Education and Technical Education (additional charge on 27 June 2022)
Guardian Minister of Mumbai Suburban District, Government of Maharashtra
In office 9 January 2020 – 29 June 2022
Chief Minister	Uddhav Thackeray
Preceded by	Vinod Tawde
Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 November 2019
Preceded by	Sunil Govind Shinde
Constituency	Worli
President of Yuva Sena
Incumbent
Assumed office 2010
Preceded by	Position Created
President of the Mumbai Football Association[1]
Incumbent
Assumed office 2017
Preceded by	Austin Coutinho
Personal details
Born	Aaditya Uddhav Thackeray (1990-06-13) 13 June 1990 (age 34) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Political party	Shiv Sena (UBT) (since 2022)
Other political affiliations	Shiv Sena (until 2022)
Relations	See Thackeray Family
Parents	Uddhav Thackeray (father) Rashmi Thackeray (mother)
Education	Bombay Scottish School
Alma mater	St. Xavier's (B.A History) KC Law College (LL.B.)
Occupation	Politician

Early life

Aaditya was born to Uddhav Thackeray and Rashmi.^[4] He has a younger brother, Tejas. He completed his schooling from Bombay Scottish School in Mahim, South Mumbai.^[5] Thackeray later obtained a BA History degree while studying at St. Xavier's College in Fort, South Mumbai.^[6] He obtained his law degree from Kishinchand Chellaram Law College in Churchgate, South Mumbai, where he earned his LLB degree.^[7]

Work

His first book of poems, 'My Thoughts in White and Black', was published in 2007.^[8][9] The following year, he turned lyricist and released a private album Ummeed, for which he wrote all the eight songs.^[10][11][12]

He was involved in or initiated a book burning agitation against inclusion of Rohinton Mistry's book 'Such a Long Journey' in Mumbai University's reading list in 2010. Thackeray alleged that the book included insulting language against Marathis.^[13][14]

Political career

In October 2019, Thackeray contested the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election from the Worli constituency^[15] in Mumbai and subsequently emerged victorious. In doing so, he became the first member of the Thackeray family to contest and win elections.^[16] He became the Cabinet Minister for tourism, protocol and environment on 30 December 2019 in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government.^{[citation needed]}

Prior to getting officially elected, Thackeray played a significant role in several projects during the Devendra Fadnavis-led government, prominently being a ban of single-use plastics in Maharashtra,^[17] which was well received by residents of the state.^[18]

Controversies

Aaditya Thackeray personally led the BMC controversial project to import baby penguins from South Korea. Despite major opposition from experts about the Mumbai climate being unsuitable for this species, the BMC decided to go ahead with the plan and shipped 8 baby penguins for a total value of Rs. 2.5 crores. One of the penguins, Dory, died.^[19]

Positions held

• 2010: Appointed President of Yuva Sena.^[20][21]
• 2017: Elected as President of Mumbai District Football Association.^[22][23][24]
• 2018: Appointed Leader of Shiv Sena Party.^[25][26]
• 2019: MLA from Worli constituency.^[27][28][29]
• 2019: Cabinet Minister of Environment, Tourism and Protocol, Government of Maharashtra.^[30][31]
• 2020: Appointed guardian minister of Mumbai Suburban district.^[32][33]

See also

• Political families of Maharashtra
• Political families of India

References

1. D'Costa, Valerian (26 November 2018). "Neville Dsouza Football Turf brings Mumbai's Football Fever to Bandra". bandrabuzz.com. Mumbai: Bandra Buzz. Archived from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
2. "On 30th birthday, Aditya Thackeray helps save 6-day old infant". The Tribune. 13 June 2020.
3. "Biography of Aditya Thackeray". in.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
4. "Maharashtra Elections: Aditya Thackeray To Make Poll Debut From Worli". Outlook. 30 September 2019.
5. "Now, miscreants target Thackeray kids' school". The Times of India. 12 May 2008. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
6. "Initiation rites". frontline.thehindu.com. 18 November 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
7. Seetharaman, G. (20 October 2013). "Bal Thackeray's grandson Aaditya: Will the 23-year old help Shiv Sena restore lost glory?". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
8. "Aditya Thackeray: My Thoughts in White and Black". indiatoday.in. Retrieved 28 May 2007.
9. "All in the family: Aditya makes creative debut". dnaindia.com. Retrieved 8 May 2007.
10. "Album launch: 'Umeed'". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
11. "Big B launches Aditya Thackeray's debut music album". dnaindia.com. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
12. "Times Music launches Aditya Thackeray's 'Umeed'". radioandmusic.com. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
13. "If you bring Mistry book back, let Moro work too be in syllabus: Aditya". indianexpress.com. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
14. "Mumbai University drops Rohinton Mistry novel after extremists complain". theguardian.com. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
15. "Shiv Sena heir apparent Aaditya Thackeray makes winning debut in Worli". indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
16. "Maharashtra Assembly election: Aaditya Thackeray becomes first from family to enter state legislature". India Today. 24 October 2019. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
17. "Aaditya Thackeray justifies plastic ban in Maharashtra, apologises to people for inconvenience". Firstpost. Press Trust of India. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
18. "Mumbai Residents "Happy" As Maharashtra Plastic Ban Comes Into Effect". NDTV. 24 June 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
19. "Why India's only penguins are mired in controversy?". India Today. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
20. "Shiv Sena to launch its youth wing at Dussehra rally". thehindu.com. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
21. "Bal Thackeray launches his grandson into politics". economictimes.com. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
22. "Aaditya Thackeray elected president of MDFA". asianage.com. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
23. "Aaditya Thackeray appointed MDFA president". business-standard.com. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
24. "Aaditya Thackeray appointed MDFA president". outlookindia.com. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
25. "Aaditya Thackeray elevated as Shiv Sena 'leader'; becomes part of core team". economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
26. "Aaditya elevated as Sena 'leader'; becomes part of core team". millenniumpost.in. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
27. "Maharashtra assembly election 2019: Shiv Sena's Aaditya Thackeray wins from Worli on debut". hindustantimes.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
28. "Aaditya Thackeray wins in Worli, defeats NCP nominee by over 70000 votes". economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
29. "Aaditya Thackeray thanks mom, dad after winning by over 67,000 votes". indiatoday.com. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
30. "Aaditya Thackeray is Maharashtra environment, tourism minister His first comments". hindustantimes.com. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
31. "Maharashtra portfolios: Ajit Pawar gets Finance, Anil Deshmukh Home, Aaditya Thackeray Tourism". businesstoday.in. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
32. "Aaditya Thackeray appointed as guardian minister for Mumbai suburban, Ajit Pawar for Pune". zeenews.india.com. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
33. "Uddhav Thackeray Appoints 36 District Guardian Ministers, Aaditya Gets Mumbai Suburban". news18.com. Retrieved 9 January 2020.

External links

• Media related to Aditya Thackeray at Wikimedia Commons