Bal Thackeray's Sena family through generations
Walawalkar was a young newspaper vendor in Goregaon during the early sixties when he became a regular reader of Marmik. “I was impressed by the way in which Balasaheb gave a voice to Hindus and Marathi people. I was confident that only Balasaheb can make Marathi people feel safe and give us our rights in a city that had no reservations for us in any sector. One day in 1966, I read a large hoarding outside the Goregaon station inviting people to attend Balasaheb’s public address. I met him face-to-face for the first time during that sabha. His speech was so powerful that I did not have to think twice before filing up a form to join the Sena. After that day I never missed a public speech by him in Mumbai for eight years,” said Walawalkar.
He then became an active party worker, holding corner sabhas in Goregaon and participating in state-wide rallies in Maad, Raigad, Konkan etc to spread word about the newly launched party. While he claims that he never harboured any desires of becoming the shaakha pramukh, in 1968 he did take up the post for a few years. “I tried my best to work
