‘Running govt like Ravana’: Raut slams BJP

Preparations are underway in Ayodhya as the Ram temple consecration ceremony is set to take place on January 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the chief guest at the event and nearly 7,000 people are expected to attend it.

Uddhav was not invited for the January 22 event till Saturday and had received the invite only through speed post, while Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena after the split, was invited much earlier.

The Shiv Sena UBT had earlier expressed its unhappiness over Thackeray not being invited for the event. The decision to send the invite through speed post has riled the party further.

Upset with the way the invitation was sent through a speed post, Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut said, “you are giving a special invitation to the celebrities and film stars. They had nothing to do with Ram Janmabhoomi. But you are treating the Thackeray family this way? The Thackeray family had played a major and important role in the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation. Lord Ram will not forgive you and will curse you for this. You are praying to Lord Ram but running the government like Ravana.”

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, however, stated the invite was sent through speed post to ensure that it reaches Uddhav on time. “The invite may have been sent via speed post to ensure that it reaches on time. There is no need to take it other ways,” Shinde-led Sena leader and Minister Uday Samant said.

After not having received the invite earlier, the Sena had announced that Thackeray would be performing a Maha Aarti in Nashik’s Godavari river bank on January 22 followed by a darshan of Kalaram Mandir of Panchavati in Nashik where Lord Ram was said to have lived during his exile.