Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, on his first visit to Ayodhya after coming to power in Maharashtra, reiterated that his party, Shiv Sena, stands by its Hindutva ideology despite not being an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “I have parted ways with BJP, not Hindutva. BJP and Hindutva are not the same. BJP is not Hindutva,” he said on Saturday, after visiting the makeshift Ram Lalla temple.
Thackeray also announced a donation of ₹1 crore from his trust, as a contribution towards the construction of a new temple. “Not as the chief minister or from the government of Maharashtra, but I am contributing this money because I am a devotee of Lord Ram,” he said.
Thackeray also expressed a wish to construct a Maharashtra Bhavan in Ayodhya, as a pilgrim centre for people from the state who visit the Ram Temple. “I spoke to the chief minister Yogi Aadityanath and requested him to identify and give land to Maharashtra government so we can construct a Maharashtra Bhavan in Ayodhya,” said Thackeray, who was accompanied by son and state minister Aaditya; party MPs Sanjay Raut, Arvind Sawant, Rahul Shewale; and all Sena ministers from the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. State minister Sunil Kedar from the Congress, too, was part of the group at Ayodhya. The MVA government is a three-party coalition between Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress.
Thackeray had earlier visited Ayodhya on two occasions – in November 2018 and in June 2019.
Senior political analyst Abhay Deshpande termed Thackeray’s decision to visit Ayodhya as part of “a balancing act the Sena is doing”.
“This is like a balancing act, because Sena left BJP, and has allied with Congress and NCP, but Uddhav Thackeray is now trying to show that opposing BJP does not mean Sena has become anti-Hindutva. The BJP has tried to create a narrative that Thackeray has become anti-Hindutva. The chief minister is trying to combat this and trying to set up a right-centre politics, balancing with the left-centre politics of NCP and Congress,” said Deshpande. “The MVA’s political compulsion has had them set up the common minimum program (CMP) for governance. There are differences in the alliance’s ideological inclinations. The government will run on the basis of the CMP. With other things they want to show we have not left our original agenda. Because of CMP, Thackeray has left aside some core issues, but he wants to show it does not mean he has dumped them.”
The visit was timed to coincide with the MVA government completing 100 days in power on March 6. Thackeray was sworn-in as chief minister on November 28 last year.
“When I came to Ayodhya to take blessings from Lord Ram for the first time in November 2018, I had said ‘I will visit again, and I will visit again, and I will keep visiting’. Every time I have come here, I have returned with blessings of Lord Ram, and good things have come my way. I came in November 2018, amid uncertainty of whether the temple will be built, and who will build it. Then the Supreme Court Verdict came. Exactly one year after my visit, I became chief minister of Maharashtra, something I had never dreamt would happen. I came before Lok Sabha elections with all MPs and we had a good victory in Maharashtra,” said Thackeray on Saturday.
The chief minister was initially also supposed to attend an aarti on the banks of the Sharyu River, but the event was cancelled owing to concerns over coronavirus. Thackeray said he will visit again for the aarti.
Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said anyone can visit Ayodhya in personal capacity. “Chief minister Thackeray did so on Saturday. As long as the issue of construction of the Ram temple is concerned, Congress has never opposed it. The only question we have raised is where; and have clarified that the Supreme Court should take a final decide. Now that the Supreme Court order has clarified it, we have always said, there should be a Ram temple,” said Sawant. “As far as the MVA is concerned, the government functions on a CMP. It was clear before the alliance was made that the parties have differences in ideologies, and those can remain independent of each other and the government.”
The BJP, however, hit out at Thackeray’s Hindutva barb. “Nobody needs to teach BJP the meaning of Hindutva. Shiv Sena is now rubbing shoulders with Congress, the party that always opposed Hindutva. So only time will reveal if Shiv Sena’s Hindutva will last. BJP did not insist that Shiv Sena should hold onto our alliance,” said Praveen Darekar, leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative council.
