Thackeray wades into Ayodhya issue

Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray, accompanied by his wife Rashmi and son Aditya, embarked on a high-profile visit to Ayodhya yesterday, aimed at grabbing centre stage in the demand for construction of the Ram Temple as elections approach.

They took a flight to Faizabad from where they would drive down for an engagement at the Laxman Killa in Ayodhya, and later perform a ‘maha-aarti’ on the banks of Sarayu river yesterday evening.

At the Laxman Killa, he was to be felicitated by a large number of Hindu spiritual leaders, besides common people and perform a puja there.

Performing rites

This morning, Thackeray will perform rites accompanied by local party leaders, and Hindu spiritual leaders.

He will also interact with the media and later with the public, though plans for a public rally were not finalised yet.

For the visit, Thackeray is carrying an urn containing soil from the Shivneri Fort — the birthplace of warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Over 4,000 Shiv Sainiks from Maharashtra, and many more from other parts of the country, have gone ahead of him to Ayodhya over the past couple of days, a party spokesperson said.

Party leaders including Sanjay Raut, Ministers Eknath Shinde, Rajan Vichare, Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar and others have been camping in Ayodhya over the past few days.