Who has guts to stop Uddhav from coming to Ayodhya? Ram Temple Trust functionary asks seers

Amid calls from a section of seers to not allow Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to set his foot in Ayodhya following the Palghar lynching and demolition of a portion of actress Kangna Ranaut's bungalow in Mumbai, a senior functionary of the Ram Temple Construction Trust on Monday lent his support to Uddhav and decried the seers' threat.

Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Trust general secretary Champat Rai not only came out in support of Uddhav but also virtually dared the seers to carry out their threat in case the Maharashtra CM visited Ayodhya.

''Kiski maa ne doodh pilaya hai jo Uddhav Thackeray ko Ayodhya ane se rok sake'' (who has the guts to prevent Uddhav Thackeray from coming to Ayodhya), Rai said.

Terming the remarks by the seers as ''uncalled for'', Rai said that an attempt was being made to ''unnecessarily create a controversy''.

Prominent Ayodhya based seer Mahant Raju Das slammed Rai for supporting Uddhav. ''This kind of language against the seers will not be tolerated....this is a humiliation of the seers,'' the Mahant said.

He said that the seers had opposed Uddhav as the Maharashtra government failed to save the lives of the sadhus at Palghar. ''We are firm on our decision not to allow Uddhav to set his foot on Ayodhya,'' he added.

President of the All India Akhara Parishad (AIAP), an apex body of the seers in the country, Mahant Narendra Giri had recently declared that the Maharashtra CM would not be welcome if he visited Ayodhya.