As the Shiv Sena prepares for the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is set to visit the temple town of Ayodhya and seek blessings of Lord Ram and meet his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow over the weekend.
This would be the first visit of Shinde to the temple town of Ayodhya after the June 2022 split in the Balasaheb Thackeray-founded Shiv Sena during which he overthrew the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government with the help of BJP.
Later, the Election Commission legitimised Shinde’s group as the real Shiv Sena and allotted the bow and arrow symbol.
Shinde will fly to Lucknow on Saturday evening and camp overnight at the Government Guest House.
The team from Maharashtra which include several MLAs and MPs of the saffron party, will drive to Ayodhya on Sunday morning. Shinde will fly in a chopper to the temple town.
Around noon, they will perform Maha Aaarti at the Shri Ram Temple at Ayodhya.
Later, they will visit the Ram Temple construction site.
Thereafter, Shinde is expected to address a press conference and then proceed to Laxman Killa where he will seek the blessings of saints and mahants. In the evening, Shinde will perform Maha Aarti at the Sarayu river.
From Ayodhya, the entourage will drive back to Lucknow, where Shinde is expected to meet Yogi Adityanath over dinner.
“Thousands of Shiv Sena leaders and workers would be visiting Ayodhya,” Shiv Sena spokesperson and deputy leader Krishna Hegde said.
The visit also assumes significance in the wake of the fact that on the eve of Ram Navami festivities, teak wood from Chandrapur district were sent to Ayodhya, which would be used to make the temple’s main doors, inside doors, the entrance to the sanctum sanctorum, and other floors besides any more wooden requirements for the entire temple complex. The wood is being provided through the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (FDCM).
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