Thackeray invites President Murmu for Nashik temple pooja, taunts BJP over Ayodhya

Thackeray said that when Somnath temple was reconstructed, the then President, Dr Rajendra Prasad, was an honoured guest at the ‘pranpratisthapana’ ceremony

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has extended an invitation to President Droupadi Murmu to attend a pooja of Lord Ram at the Kalaram temple in Nashik on January 22. The pooja will be performed on the same day as the BJP’s consecration ceremony of Ram at Ayodhya.

Kalyan India - January 13 2024 Pics : 20240104_KYN_ Pic Udhav Thakreray in kalyan for loksabha Saturday.Photo by Pramod Tambe. Thursday January 13 2024 . Pramod Tambe/HT. in India 13 2024 (Photo by Pramod Tambe )

Revealing this in a press conference at his residence, Matoshree, on Saturday morning, Thackeray, in a jibe aimed at the BJP, said that when the Somnath temple was reconstructed, the then President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, was an honoured guest at the ‘pranpratisthapana’ ceremony. “The current President of India, Droupadi Murmu, should also be invited for the ceremony at Ayodhya,” he said, adding that the BJP may or may not have invited her, but the Sena (UBT) had. In response, Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar said that Thackeray was not aware that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had already invited the President.

Thackeray said the Shiv Sena (UBT) would perform an aarti of the Godavari river and take out a rally of party workers at Nashik. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal for a Diwali-like celebration on January 22, he said: “While advocating Diwali, they should also talk about how they led the country to diwala (bankruptcy).” He also said that the views of the Shankaracharyas, who objected to the consecration ceremony at an incomplete temple, must be taken into account.

Thackeray also toured Kalyan-Dombivli on Saturday and launched a frontal attack on rival Eknath Shinde and his son, MP Shrikant Shinde, in the latter’s Lok Sabha constituency, Kalyan. Asking party workers to “bury the traitor’s dynasty” in the elections, he said he had made a mistake by trusting a turncoat.

Thackeray visited the controversial Shiv Sena shakha at Kolsewadi in Kalyan (to which both factions staked a claim some months ago), Ambernath, Ulhanagar, Diva, Mumbra and Kalwa with close aide Sanjay Raut. He said the Kalyan-Dombivli Lok Sabha constituency had always been a saffron bastion and “buried” those who betrayed the saffron flag.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at a youth conclave in Nashik on Friday, urging the youth to join politics to help reduce the influence of dynastic politics, Thackeray said the BJP no longer wanted the Thackeray family which had supported it, but was welcoming a back-stabber’s family.

“We have to bury the gaddar’s gharaneshahi (traitor’s dynasty), and I am here to ask you if you are ready,” he said at his public meeting in Ambernath.

“We have to bury the traitors not just in the Lok Sabha elections but in the assembly and municipal elections too. They are scared. They don’t want to hold elections.

“Because I considered them part of my family, I gave the traitors candidature from the Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency,” he continued, without naming the Shindes. “But I made a mistake, and you have to correct the mistake. I will choose a loyalist this time and you have to get him elected. We have to ensure that the traitor’s deposit is lost.”

Dr Shrikant Shinde is a two-time sitting MP from the Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency, and has staked his claim on the seat. The BJP, which previously had the seat in its quota, had given it to Shiv Sena when it was in an alliance with the party.