Monday, January 23 2006 12:54 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray turned 80 today (Jan 23, 2006).

However, due to security concerns, Thackeray would not meet anyone at his residence 'Matoshree' in Bandra on this occasion, sources said.

The Sena Chief is scheduled to address a meeting at Shanmukhananda hall here this evening and expected to speak on various issues, including exit of Raj Thackeray and Narayan Rane from Sena.

The Sena mouthpiece 'Saamna,' which also celebrates its anniversary today, came out with a special pullout containing articles on the Sena Chief.

In his 'Saamna' editorial today, Thackeray briefly commented on those who had left the party by comparing them to "crows who sat on the big tree of Sena and flew away for contesting polls, after acquiring heaps of wealth".

Without naming former Sena youth leader and his nephew Raj, Thackeray said, "the ties born out of objectives are stronger than that of blood," quoting a noted Marathi writer. He also criticised the 'appeasement' of Muslims for vote bank politics.

Meanwhile, several Thackeray's followers, including former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi and party MP from Aurangabad Chadrakant Khaire, have put out scores of advertisements in 'Saamna,' wishing the Sena patriarch on his birthday.

An interesting advertisement by a well-known detergent manufacturer read, 'Safedi tujhe salaam' (saluting the whiteness).