Though Shiv Sena was born in 1966 and its chief Bal Thackeray supported the merger of Belgaum and other Marathi- speaking areas of Karnataka with Maharashtra, the party had no branches in border areas of Belgaum district.
The goals of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) and Shiv Sena were the same and Thackeray's stand in 1966 was: "We will not come to Belgaum and create confusion in the minds of pro-Maharashtrians."
However, in 2004, he announced the launch of Shiv Sena's branch in Belgaum stating that MES had failed in its mission and was collapsing day by day.
The Shiv Sena had then contested the Belgaum City Corporation elections and won seven wards. The Deputy Mayorship was given to the Shiv Sena. However, later, Sri Ram Sena leader Pramod Mutalik joined Shiv Sena. Mutalik said Thackeray had assured him that Shiv Sena would never talk about the border dispute but concentrate only on Hindu issues. Meanwhile, when the Belgaum City Corporation was superseded by the then Karnataka government under Dharam Singh Chief Minister, Thackeray wrote a very strong editorial in Saamna against the Karnataka government. Following the editorial, Mutalik quit Shiv Sena. Later, Shiv Sena unsuccessfully contested the Assembly elections in Belgaum from Bagewadi constituency. Later, when Raj Thackeray quit Shiv Sena and formed the Maharashtra Nava Nirman Sena, pro-Maharashtrians of Belgaum strongly stood behind the senior Thackeray and not the rebel nephew.