Aaditya to visit Ram temple in Ayodhya in May, says Raut

Sena MP Sanjay Raut, without naming MNS, said in Nashik that his party does not need to learn Hindutva from people who have taken it on rent.

Speaking to mediapersons, Raut added that the Nashik unit of the Shiv Sena was supposed to go on a tour of Ayodhya considering the upcoming Nashik civic polls but as the elections have been deferred, the dates of the visit were being reworked.

“On Friday, we reviewed the tour… but the scale of the visit has grown so much that we decided to undertake the visit under the leadership of Aaditya Thackeray. I told him about it and he immediately agreed. Aaditya said he will visit the banks of Sarayu river,” said Raut.

He added that Aaditya’s visit to Ayodhya is a national event, which is likely to be held in the first or second week of May. “Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had earlier asked Sena leaders to see what accommodation arrangements can be made in Uttar Pradesh for pilgrims going to Ayodhya from Maharashtra.”

On Raj Thackeray’s possible visit to Ayodhya, Raut said, “…some people have reached Pune and others outside Matoshree, Thackeray’s residence… We don’t need to learn Hindutva from those people who have taken it on rent. Some tried dirty politics by raking up Hanuman Chalisa and loudspeaker issues ahead of Kolhapur bypolls but none of this worked in the bypoll. So, the kind of politics BJP is attempting to play through AIMIM’s Owaisi-like neo-Hinduism is not going to work. This is clear from the bypoll result.”

Congress’ Jayshree Jadhav on Saturday emerged victorious in the Kolhapur North Assembly bypoll by defeating the BJP candidate with a margin of over 19,000 votes.

The Sena MP further said that anyone can go to Ayodhya but they must go with a clean and clear mind and heart. “We are not going to Ayodhya now only, we have been going there since the Babri mosque’s dome was pulled down and the ground-breaking ceremony for the Ram temple was held. Ayodhya is not new and we are no strangers there.”