Journalist-turned-politician Bal Thackeray passed away on Saturday afternoon. The man who established Shivsena party had set up a newspaper much before he plunged into politics and later another Hindi daily after he entered politics. Saamna (Marathi) and Dophar Ka Saamna (Hindi) created waves in vernacular media when they were launched in 1988. Both these newspapers held mirror up to his ideas.

With the demise of its founder, these newspapers for the first time in their history published complete black mother pages (cover pages). The banner of Saamna today was: "Ishwari Avatarache Swargarohan (an avatar of God leaves for heaven). On the other hand, Do Phar Ka Saamna carried a banner: "Hinduon Ke Mahadev Ka Mahaprayan," (God of Hindus' royal journey). Notably, Do Phar Ka Saamna remains unpublished on Sunday. By then, as a tribute to the legendary journalist and politician, it brought out this newspaper.

(AW Phani)