In an apparent effort to reiterate that there is no erosion in his party’s Hindutva credentials even after forming a Government with “secular” Congress and NCP, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will visit Ayodhya on March 7 to mark the completion of 100 days of the Maha Vikas Aghadi Government led by him.
In an announcement made a day after the Chief Minister met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, veteran BJP leader LK Advani and Interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi, Shiv Sena’s spokesperson and MP Sanjay Nirupam said that Uddhav would visit Ayodhya along with a large number of Shiv Sainiks to have darshan of Lord Rama there.
“On March 7, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will visit Ayodhya on March 7 along with innumerable Shiv Sainiks. He will have darshan of Lord Shriram in the afternoon. He will perform Aarati on the ghats of Sarayu river. Please be part of the historic occasion,” Raut tweeted.
Uddhav, who had announced after the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayoidhya dispute case that he would go once again Ayodhya on November 24, 2019, had postponed his visit then, owing to the impasse in the government formation in the state. The public perception was that the Sena would soft-peddle its Hindutva agenda as long as it is running the government in the state with the Congress and NCP.
It may be recalled that Uddhav had on November 25, 2018 – along with his wife Rashmi and son Aditya, had visited Ayodhya. On June 16, 2019 year after the Lok Sabha polls, he once again visited Ayodhya and offered prayers at the makeshift Ram Lalla shrine.
However, atmosphere has changed after he joined hands with the “secular” and NCP to form a Maha Vikas Agadhi government in Maharashtra. The perception that has been gaining ground in the state political circles that in order to ensure that there is no threat to its government in the state the ruling Shiv Sena is not pursuing the Hindutva as vigorously as it was doing earlier. So much so that its erstwhile ally BJP has been taking pot shots at the Shiv Sena for giving up on its Hindutva agenda for the sake of power. It is in the backdrop that Uddhav has scheduled his visit to Ayodhya on the occasion of his government completing 100 days in office.
Significantly enough, Uddhav’s visit to Ayodhya comes at a time when there is absolutely no consensus between the Shiv Sena and its ruling allies – Congress and NCP over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
While the Congress and NCP have opposed CAA and NPR, Uddhav has gone and announced his full support for the CAA and extended his “in-principle” support to NPR. In the process, Uddhav has rubbed the NCP and Congress the wrong way. However, there does not seem to any threat to the MVA government in the state.