NAGPUR, Maharashtra – On Sunday, November 25, the head of Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray, will visit Ayodhya and offer prayers to Lord Ram on the banks of the Sarayu River.
More than 3000 workers from Shiv Sena accompany Thackeray, who has said that his visit to Ayodhya is to seek answers from the ruling BJP on the delay in the construction of the Ram temple.
On the same day, the Vishva Hindu Parishad is organizing a public rally in Ayodhya and a “Hunkar Rally” near the RSS headquarters in Nagpur on Sunday to increase pressure on the Modi government to speed up the construction of the temple on the disputed site in Ayodhya.
While Thackeray’s antics clearly seem to be driven by local political equations in Maharashtra and an ambition to be noticed nationally, he is directly aiding the RSS, which is creating an atmosphere to increase pressure on the government on the same issue.
Despite being part of Maharashtra’s governing coalition with the BJP for more than four years, Udhhav has been very critical of the Devendra Fadnavis government in the state and the Modi government in the center.
The relentless tirade of Shiv Sena against the Fadnavis government seems more an attempt to reduce the space for the opposition Congress and the PNC than to seriously corner the BJP. Despite continuous comments in the Fadnavis government, Udhhav has not yet withdrawn from the coalition.
Earlier this year, Uddhav declared that he would not align himself with the BJP in the upcoming elections.
The members of Shiv Sena say that withdrawing from the Fadnavis government at any time before the elections would not be good for the party, since the BJP leaders would not mind attracting the MLA of Shiv Sena to continue in power.
Shiva Sena vs. MNS
Shiv Sena, under Bal Thackeray, has always positioned himself as a far-right political team that claims to be defending the cause of Hindutva.
Unlike his father, Uddhav is a restricted person. Many doubted his ability to lead Shiv Sena after the death of his father, especially due to the harsh competition of his cousin Raj Thackeray, who had renounced Shiv Sena and formed the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
In the elections of the 2009 state assembly, the MNS won 13 seats and became a force to be reckoned with.
Until the 2014 general election, Raj’s MNS seemed to have snatched the Marathi agenda from Shiv Sena.
However, the Shiv Sena resurrected from Uddhav in 2014. The party won 18 seats of Lok Sabha in the 2014 general election and 63 seats in the assembly elections later that year. The MNS was decimated.
But the satisfaction of the reduction of MNS remained short for Shiv Sena, since his long-standing coalition partner, BJP, had become the largest party in the Maharashtra assembly in the same election with 122 seats and opted for the formation of the government.
Even before Shiv Sena could plan his next move and declare the final results of the assembly elections, the PNC supreme, Sharad Pawar, announced external support for the BJP government to add to Uddhav’s frustration.
For a couple of months, Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde wandered in Maharashtra as opposition leader, but just before the winter session of the state legislature in Nagpur, Shiv Sena joined the government.
Uddhav agreed to join the government of Devendra Fadnavis, but has been conducting a tirade against him even after four years.
By joining the chorus for Ram’s temple, Uddhav made sure to placate the Shiv Sena support base and by continuing his tirade against Fadnavis and the Modi government, he continues to attract uncommitted voters before the year his party will face. to two. to support the elections.
Bal Thackeray had openly admitted his party’s participation in the destruction of Babri Masjid when the main leaders of the BJP, such as L.K.Advani, had tried to distance themselves from him.
Coincidentally, Uddhav’s announcement of Ayodhya’s visit and RSS’s request that the Modi government bring an ordinance to Ram’s temple occurred on the same day.
The sudden stimulation of Sangh Pariwar on the subject of Ram’s temple is more than obvious.
The anti-Modi faction within the RSS would love to corner the central government on the Ram temple issue, and the pro-Modi faction would like to take this opportunity to lay the groundwork for a possible ordinance on the Ram temple once it the model code of conduct is established. for the elections of the assembly in course comes to an end.
By the way, the Shiv Sena and RSS programs are being organized in Ayodhya on the eve of the 26th anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, by members of Karsevaks and Shiv Sena.
