Places of worship in Maharashtra to open from November 16

The places of worship in Maharashtra will be reopened to the public from Monday.

Coinciding with the Diwali festivities, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray made the formal announcement on Saturday.

Places of worship of all religions were shut for public in March after Covid-19 pandemic broke out in India.

While slowly and slowly other states opened places of worship, the issue has snowballed into a major political issue with the BJP staging protests against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government demanding reopening of temples.

There was also a spat between Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Thackeray – and even the Centre took note of the issue.

Last month, in a letter to Thackeray, Koshyari said: “….You have been a strong votary of Hindutva. You have publicly espoused your devotion for Lord Rama by visiting Ayodhya after taking charge as Chief Minister. You visited Vitthal Rukmini Mandir in Pandharpur and performed the puja on Ashadi Ekadashi. I wonder if you are receiving any divine premonition to keep postponing the reopening of the places of worship time and again or have you suddenly turn ‘secular’ yourself, the term you hated.”

Thackeray, however, shot back writing to him: “You have taken oath as a Governor…and secularism is a part of the Constitution. However, I don’t need a certificate on Hindutva from anybody, nor do I have to learn it from anyone. Those giving a warm welcome to people who compare my state and its capital (Mumbai) with Pakistan Occupied Kashmir don’t fit in my Hindutva.”

In the wake of the governor's letter, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi complaining about the kind of language the Governor used in the letter.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has snubbed the Governor saying: “I have read the letter. He has made a passing reference. I believe some restraint could have been exercised”.