Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will visit Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh after Dussehra, party MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut said on Thursday. He criticised the Central government over the Ram temple issue.
“Mr Thackeray will announce the date of his visit during the party’s annual Dus-sehra rally to be held in Mumbai on October 19. The Sena has always championed the cause of the Ram temple in Ayodhya,” said Mr Raut.
Slamming the BJP, he said, “The BJP, despite being in power for four years, has not fulfilled its commitment to building a grand Ram temple there.”
Mr Thackeray met Ram Janmabhoomi trust chief Janmejay Sharanji Maharaj at the party’s headquarters Sena Bhawan at Dadar on Wednesday evening. Sharanji Maharaj invited Mr Thackeray to visit Ayodhya and told him that the trust needed Sena’s assistance in the construction of the temple, they said.
Sena leader Arvind Sawant pointed out that before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA had given three assurances to the people including abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, construction of the Ram temple, and solution to the Kashmir issue. Article 370 of the Constitution accords special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. “We are not doing something which we haven’t spoken about earlier. When nobody took responsibility for the Babri Masjid demolition, (Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray did so,” said Mr Sawant.
