Uddhav Thackeray in Ayodhya: Shiv Sena Chief performs aarti near Saryu river in Ayodhya

New Delhi: Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray, accompanied by his wife Rashmi and son Aditya, arrived for his two day Ayodhya visit on Saturday. Thackeray reached Ayodhya with soil from Shivneri fort, the birthplace of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji. As per sources, Thackeray is also likely to hold talks with the saints on the construction of ram temple and also offer his prayers. Earlier in the day, two trains full of Shiv Sena cadres had arrived in the temple town. The cadres first took a dip in the Saryu river and then prayed at Ram Lalla and Hanumagrhi. 


This will be the Thackerays' first-ever visit to the holy city, though in the past his father and founder of the Shiv Sena, the late Bal Thackeray had travelled to Uttar Pradesh on a couple of occasions. The party's prime demand is to expedite the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya by promulgating an Ordinance to the effect.

Thackeray had announced during the Shiv Sena's Vijayadashmi rally in Mumbai that he will visit Ayodhya and "question" Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of the construction of the Ram temple. In a fresh statement, Sena on Friday said that the “disputed” structure in Ayodhya was brought down within 17 seconds; then why is construction of Ram Temple taking so long? The statement, which was made by party MP Sanjay Raut came a day ahead of Thackeray’s visit.


"The Babri mosque was demolished in 17 minutes... in about half an hour what needed to be done was done by the Ram bhakts...the blot which was there since years was brought down ," Raut told reporters, referring to the demolition of the mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.


"How long does it take to prepare papers... to bring ordinance... from the Rashtrapati Bhawan to Uttar Pradesh Assembly. They are all BJP governments," the Shiv Sena leader said. Earlier, the Sena, which is part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) but has had strained ties with ally BJP, demanded that the central government come out with an ordinance and declare a date for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.