In Ayodhya, Shinde likens Uddhav to 'Ravana', Fadnavis makes surprise appearance

Cheered by hundreds of Shiv Sainiks in the temple town of Ayodhya, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday likened his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray as 'Ravana', the demon king, as he sought to portray himself as the true inheritor of Shiv Sena (SS) founder Balasaheb Thackeray.

Shinde, who arrived in Ayodhya on his first visit as CM, had 'darshan' of Ram Lala and took part in the 'arti' on the bank of the Saryu river,was accompanied by his deputy and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who made a surprise appearance in the temple town to join Shinde.

Shinde minced no words in taking on his former boss Uddhav Thackeray, against whom he had rebelled along with 39 Sena legislators last year, and referred to the arrest of the independent MP Navneet Rana and her husband and MLA Ravi Rana in April last year over the couple's announcement that they would recite 'Hanuman Chalisa' before Uddhav's residence in Mumbai.

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''Jo kahten hai ki Ravan Rajya hai unse main poochna chahta hoon ki Navneet Rana aur Ravi Rana ko Hanuman Chalisa padhne ke liye deshdroh lagaya woh kya Ram the...woh Ravan hain,'' (They say that Ravan Rajya prevails today....I want to ask them who were those who had arrested Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana over recital of Hanuman Chalisa...they are Ravan), Shinde said while addressing Sena workers at Ayodhya.

Shinde also accused the then Uddhav Thackeray government of which he too was part, of being 'silent' when two ascetics were allegedly lynched by members of a vigilante group at Palghar in Maharashtra in 2020.

The Maharashtra CM also announced that Ravi Rana would take with him the soil of Ayodhya and use the same in building a 111 feet Hanuman Statue at Amaravati in the state.

Shinde also sought to portray himself as the true inheritor of Uddhav's father Balasaheb Thackeray and said that a grand Ram Temple was Balasaheb's dream and prime minister Narendra Modi had made that dream come true.

He also said that his faction of Shiv Sena had got the party election symbol 'bow and arrow' owing to the blessings of Lord Rama.

Fadnavis, who also accompanied Shinde and had 'darshan' of Ram Lala, said that his surprise visit to Ayodhya had nothing to do with politics or elections. ''I am here to seek blessings of Lord Rama....it has nothing to do with elections,'' he added.

A large number of BJP leaders and party workers were present when Shinde addressed the Sena workers, who had arrived in large numbers from different part of Maharashtra to Ayodhya.