Ayodhya: On the eve of Uddhav Thackeray’s visit to Ayodhya, the Shiv Sena said on Saturday that Ram temple will be built under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
Party leader Sanjay Raut said, “The temple will be constructed under Mr Modi and Mr Yogi’s leadership. The BJP will decide on it. The majority in 2019 is for construction of Ram temple. In Rajya Sabha too we will get majority by 2020.”
He said Mr Thackeray, who will be joined by 18 newly-elected party MPs, is fulfilling the promise he had made in November that he would visit again after elections and asserted that his party has “not sought votes in the name of Ram and will not do so in future”.
Mr Thackeray, who will be reaching Ayodhya on Sunday morning, will offer prayers at the makeshift Ram Lalla temple, address a press conference and leave later in the evening.
Maharashtra will be going to polls later this year. The visit is being seen as an attempt by the Shiv Sena to put pressure on ally BJP. But Sena has maintained that Mr Thackeray’s visit should not be seen through the electoral lens.
“Ramlala is not a subject for politics but it is matter of our faith. We have not sought votes in the name of Ram and will not do so in future. When he (Uddhav) visited Ayodhya in November he promised to come again after elections. He is fulfilling his promise,” Mr Raut said at a press conference.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath visited Ayodhya on last Friday to offer prayers at the makeshift Ram Lalla temple. His visit, the first after the Lok Sabha election results, was apparently aimed at reiterating support for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site.
“It is everybody’s wish that Ram Mandir must be constructed,” he had said after unveiling a seven-foot Ram statue at a museum in the city.
He also took part in the week-long celebrations to mark the birthday of Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas chief Mahant Nritya Gopal Das.
The title suit over the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site is being heard by the Supreme Court.
Soon after the BJP got a second term in the Lok Sabha elections, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat had said, “Ram’s work has to be done and Ram’s work will get done.”
