Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, along with his wife Rasmi and son Aditya in Ayodhya last year. (Vishal Srivastav express photo)
Maharashtra’s chief minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray will definitely go to the opening ceremony for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, party MP Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday.
When asked if Thackeray received an invitation to the ceremony, Raut said, “It will come.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh on August 5 for the “bhoomi pujan” ceremony to begin construction of the Ram temple.
Prime Minister Thackeray will definitely go to the “bhoomi pujan” ceremony, because Shiv Sena shares sentimental, religious, and national ties to this issue, “Raut told a television channel.
As he had said yesterday, the Shiv Sena had made a great contribution and (Shiv Sainiks) shed their blood and made sacrifices for the cause of the Ram temple construction, he added.
Raut reiterated that Thackeray continues to visit Ayodhya and has done so before and after becoming the Prime Minister of Maharashtra.
The ceremony is historic from the point of view of the country, Hindutva, for the thousands of martyrs, he said.
Raut also said that hundreds of thousands of Lord Ram devotees would have attended the ceremony if the COVID-19 crisis had not prevailed.
The Rajya Sabha member claimed Monday that his party paved the way for Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and removed obstacles to the construction of the temple for the cause of Hindutva and not for politics.
It is necessary to see how many people will be invited to the temple opening ceremony next month and what social distancing measures will be taken at the event (in view of the COVID-19 outbreak), Raut said.
“What” political-social distancing “they will observe remains to be seen,” he said.
After a protracted legal dispute, the Supreme Court on November 9 last year paved the way for the construction of the Ram Temple by a trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya.
The apex court ordered the Center to assign an alternative five-acre parcel to the Sunni Waqf Board to build a new mosque at a “prominent” location in the holy city of Uttar Pradesh.
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