Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will visit the makeshift temple of lord Ram in Ayodhya on Saturday afternoon followed by a prayer at the Sarayu river in the evening. The ‘Aarti’ at the banks of the river has been cancelled due to the coronavirus threat and medical advisories to avoid large gatherings.
This will be Uddhav Thackeray’s first visit to Ayodhya after becoming the chief minister.
Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut yesterday met Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to discuss the arrangements for Uddhav’s visit.
Uddhav’s Ayodhya visit was announced in January to mark 100 days in office for the new Maharashtra government led by Shiv Sena. Uddhav was sworn-in as chief minister on November 28, 2019.
Raut urged everyone to participate in the “historic gathering” with the ‘Chalo Ayodhya’ (Come to Ayodhya) call. Raut said several Shiv Sainiks will accompany the CM on his visit to the temple town.
When announcing the visit in January, Raut had asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to also visit the temple town along with Uddhav.
Uddhav’s visit had led to political bickering with the BJP accusing Uddhav of abandoning the Hindutva ideology. Shiv Sena then shot back at the BJP and asked for the visit to be kept out of politics.
“We do not want to bring in politics in this. This is a matter of faith and devotion for us,” Sanjay Raut had said on January 25.
Thackeray had to put off his last visit to Ayodhya in November last year after the historic Supreme Court judgement in favour of building a grand Ram Temple there.
