A picture shared by Aaditya Thackeray shows him with his grandfather, Bal Thackeray.
Aaditya Thackeray shared a throwback picture of his grandfather and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray on his birth anniversary today. The 29-year-old Maharashtra Tourism Minister dug out an old photograph that shows him sitting with his grandfather and shared it on Instagram this morning.
Bal Thackeray was born in 1926 in Pune. He died in 2012, at the age of 86, in Mumbai.
The post has collected over 41,000 'likes', with many paying tribute to the leader.
"Always in our hearts," wrote one person in the comments section. "No one else like him can be again in Maharashtra," said another. "May you fulfill all of his dreams," a third added.
Last year, Aaditya Thackeray became the first in his family to contest elections since the Shiv Sena was founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray. He won from Mumbai's Worli assembly constituency. Ahead of filing his nomination, the young Sena leader had shared a photo on Instagram showing him inside Bal Thackeray's room, bowing before a portrait kept on his grandfather's bed before setting out.
Aaditya Thackeray, an active Instagram user, often shares old pictures of his grandfather with his followers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also paid tribute to Bal Thackeray today. "Tributes to the great Balasaheb Thackeray on his jayanti. Courageous and indomitable, he never hesitated from raising issues of public welfare," the prime minister wrote on Twitter.