Uddhav Thackeray To Visit Ayodhya For First Time As Chief Minister On March 7

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will visit Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh on March 7, party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said on Saturday. "Maharashtra Chief Minister will visit Ayodhya on March 7," Raut said while talking to reporters. Earlier, there were reports that Uddhav will visit the temple town on completion of 100 days in power as Maharashtra chief minister. Alliance partner of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government – NCP and Congress – were also invited to seek blessings of Lord Ram.

When asked to comment on 'BJP asking Uddhav Thackeray to take Rahul Gandhi to Ayodhya with him', Raut replied with another question. “Will BJP leaders take former Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti with them on their visit to Ayodhya?” he asked.

'Have Not Left Hindutva'

Earlier, in a veiled reference to its former ally Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday asserted that he has not left ‘Hindutva’ neither has changed his ‘colour’ despite finding new allies in the state post 2019Assembly Elections.

Thackeray, whose party is considered to be a staunch supporter of Hindutva, ditched the long-term ally BJP and allied with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). “I have chosen a new political path by taking along old political rivals as allies. I have not changed my colour, my core (“Antarang”). It continues to remain saffron,” he said while addressing Shiv Sena party workers on the birth anniversary of party founder late Balasaheb Thackeray.

Countering criticism that left Hindutva for the sake of power, Thackeray said he took the extreme step because they were backstabbed by pre-poll allies. “We have taken the extreme step because we have been backstabbed by our old allies, they have breached our trust and failed to fulfill their commitment. They told me that I lied and tried to prove that I am a liar. This is the different path I have accepted and have joined hands with the people whom we were fighting,” he said.

His remark also holds significance as his estranged cousin and MNS chief Raj Thackeray took a dig at him while speaking at his party’s function earlier in the evening by saying “I don’t change the colour of my party to form the government.”

With PTI Inputs