Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will be visiting Ayodhya on Saturday (March 7, 2020) with his family to seek the blessings of Lord Ram on completion of 100 days since he took charge of the Maharashtra government.
This is the first time the Sena Chief will visit Ayodhya after breaking up ties with long-standing ally BJP following the announcement of the Maharashtra assembly poll results.
At the end of November last year, NCP-Congress-Shiv Sena coalition formed the government in Maharashtra.
However, Thackeray won't be performing aarti' on the bank of Saryu River due to Coronavirus scare.
If media reports are to believed, he will arrive in Lucknow and then leave for Ayodhya from Lucknow Airport tomorrow. He will hold a 'darshan' of Ral Lalla at around 4.30 PM in Ayodhya, and then will return to Lucknow around 5.30 PM, flying back to Mumbai at around 8 PM on the same day.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut confirmed in January that Maharashtra Chief Minister will visit Ayodhya. "Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray will visit Ayodhya on the completion of 100 days in power to seek the blessings of Lord Ram. We want that our alliance leaders should also come along. Rahul Gandhi also visits several temples." Raut said.
He was scheduled to visit the sacred site on November 24, 2019, putting it off following NCP core committee's decision to form an alternative government in the state.
He had earlier visited Ayodhya in June 2019 and offered his prayers at the makeshift Ram Lalla temple with 18 newly elected MPs following the Lok Sabha elections.
This is also the first time that the Chief Minister of Maharashtra will visit the sacred site after the historic Supreme Court's decision to give the disputed 2.77 acre land in Ayodhya to the Hindus for the construction of Ram Temple. In its judgment, the Supreme Court specified that in three months the Central Government needs to set up a trust to build the temple on the disputed site.
Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Lok Sabha address, announced the formation of the Ram Janambhoomi temple trust in Ayodhya.
