Shiv Sena (Marathi: ??? ???? ?iv Sen?, meaning Army of Shiv, referring to Shivaji), is a far-right political party in India founded on 19 June 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. It is currently headed by Thackerays son, Uddhav Thackeray. The party originally emerged out of a movement in Mumbai, the then-Bombay, broadly favouring increased influence of Marathis in Maharashtra. It built a strong base amongst the Marathi community in the sixties based on its ideology that Maharashtra belonged to the Marathi community and that they be given preference over migrants from other Indian states.

Although the partys primary base is still in Maharashtra, it has tried to expand to a pan-Indian base. Gradually the party moved from solely advocating a pro-Marathi ideology, to one supporting a broader Hindu nationalist (Hindu nationalism) agendaCitation neededdate=November 2008 as it aligned itself with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The party has taken part in numerous Maharashtra state governments at several times and was a coalition partner in the National Democratic Alliance (National Democratic Alliance (India)) cabinet that ruled India between 1998-2004. Members of Shiv Sena are referred to as Shiv Sainiks.