Wednesday, May 11 2005 21:57 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: After a gap of 23 years, three leading politicians, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and former Defence Minister George Fernandes, shared a public platform in Mumbai today (May 11, 2005).

The occasion was the release of Thackeray's 'photobiography', chronicling the life and times of the Sena patriarch.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee released the book, 'Bal Keshav Thackeray, a photobiography'.

Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar, film star Amitabh Bachchan and historian Babasaheb Purandare were present at the function held at the backdrop of Gateway of India.

The last time Thackeray, Pawar and Fernandes were on the same stage was in 1982 on the mill workers' issue.

Sena chief's nephew and party leader Raj Thackeray, the man behind the book, said he had personally invited Pawar for the book release function.

According to Raj Thackeray, the association between George Fernandes and Bal Thackeray is over 50-year-old and goes back to the time when the Sena supremo was working as a cartoonist in the daily 'Free Press Journal', where Fernandes led the workers union.

The 424-page book, in English and Marathi, contains a pictorial journey of Thackeray's personal and political life - right from his childhood to last year's election rallies addressed by the Sena chief.

Asked why he chose the Gateway of India as the venue for the book release function, Raj said the Sena chief had addressed the first morcha of Shiv Sena at the Gateway of India atop an Ambassador car hence the choice of the venue.