No public rally in Ayodhya: Sena

MUMBAI:DAYS ahead of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s Ayodhya visit (November 24 and 25), the party on Tuesday said there will be no public meeting in Ayodhya.

Earlier, the party had announced a rally on November 25. Senior party leaders said the Uttar Pradesh government, which is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has not yet given permission for it.

Thackeray, at an event in Mumbai, said, “I am going to Ayodhya on the 25th; my final schedule is not ready yet… I will decide whether to hold a rally or not.” Without naming the BJP, Thackeray said that he was visiting Ayodhya to remind them of their poll promise.

Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, who chalked out Thackeray’s two-day visit, met UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday to apprise him of Thackeray’s plan and seek the government’s support. Following the meeting, Raut said the party never announced a public meeting. “We have not planned anything that would require permission from the [UP] government. As he (Yogi Adityanath) is the CM, we met him to inform him about the plan,” Raut said.

A Sena functionary said that the Bjp-ruled state was unlikely to allow Thackeray to use Ayodhya as stage to take on the prime minister.

Meanwhile, Thackeray took a jibe at the BJP over the Ram temple issue and questioned if the temple issue is an election “jumla” (fake promise). Thackeray said, “Just like ₹15 lakh in everyone’s account, is Ram Mandir also a jumla? This issue comes up only during the elections and once elections are over, it is forgotten.”

The Sena chief said his party has consciously taken up the Ram temple issue ahead of the 2019 general elections. “A lot of people raised their eyebrows when we raised the issue. I am going to talk about that when I go there [Ayodhya]. I have purposely taken up this issue now. Everyone should be together to build Ram Temple,” he said after inaugurating the press room in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.