Amid protest from BJP MP, Raj defers visit to Ayodhya
MNS leaders cite law-and-order situation, blame BJP for failure to check its state MP; Aaditya’s tour is on schedule, says Sena
Naresh Kamath
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Friday announced that his proposed visit to Ayodhya on June 5 had been postponed. “Ayodhya tour postponed for now....will explain in detail..,” Thackeray tweeted.
The decision comes in the wake of strong opposition from Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Uttar Pradesh, who had threatened to disrupt the MNS chief’s visit unless he apologised to north Indians for his party’s violence against them in Mumbai in 2008.
“The local police have told our leaders that it will be difficult to provide security to MNS workers. The party has booked akharas to house our workers and even one stray incident of violence will trigger an overall reaction against north Indians in Maharashtra,” an MNS leader, who declined to come on record, said.
“We were told that the BJP MP had heated the atmosphere and there are intelligence inputs that there could be a friction between MNS workers and Singh’s supporters,” he added. MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar said the entire issue would be explained by Thackeray at his rally scheduled at Ganesh Kala Krida Kendra auditorium in Pune on Sunday. “Rajsaheb has already announced that he will explain his postponement on Sunday and we are all eager to hear him out.”
However, the BJP MP is far from being satisfied with the postponement. “Raj Thackeray may have put off his tour but we will not be satisfied until he tenders an apology. Till he does that he will not be allowed, even in the future. The north Indian population cannot forget his insults and they can only be assuaged after he apologises to them,” Singh said.
Thackeray is also peeved at the BJP leadership, particularly Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, for their failure to rein in Singh. His grouse is Brij Bhushan is abusing him daily and this cannot go on.
Though the Maharashtra BJP has tried to convince Thackeray that they are with him, they have expressed helplessness as the UP leadership is not responding positively.
Leader of opposition in the council Pravin Darekar, however, said, “Raj Thackeray has only postponed his visit and not cancelled it. I don’t think it is only because of Brij Bhushan Singh. The MP is carrying out this campaign in his individual capacity. Our stance is any Indian citizen can visit any places of worship and Raj Thackeray will visit Ayodhya in the near future.”
MNS leaders have attributed the postponement to multiple reasons. One of them is Adityanath’s birthday is June 5 and a huge celebration has already been planned in Ayodhya. Another is Thackeray has developed medical problems and hence, his family does not want him to travel to UP.
Shiv Sena taunted the MNS for putting off the visit. “I got to know through the media that the Ayodhya tour of some other party has been cancelled. But had they wanted some assistance from us, we would have given it to them for their June 5 trip because there are a lot of followers of Sena in Uttar Pradesh and we are always welcome in Ayodhya,” Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said.
He further said environment minister Aaditya Thackeray’s visit to Ayodhya would happen as planned on June 15.
Rajsaheb has already announced that he will explain his postponement on Sunday and we are all eager to hear him out BALA NANDGAONKAR, MNS leader