Mumbai: A jubilant Shiv Sena on Saturday welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict, which cleared the way for the party’s long-standing demand for a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Party chief Uddhav Thackeray hailed the Supreme Court judgement and said that the day would be written in golden words in Indian history.
The party, currently engaged in a bitter power struggle with the BJP, even hinted that it was ready to put its ambition of forming the government in Maharashtra on backburner for the sake of constructing a Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.
Senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut, in a tweet, said, “Pehle Mandir Phir Sarkar!! Ayodhya mein Mandir, Maharashtra mein Sarkar... Jai ShriRam.”
While emphasising the importance of the long-pending issue to his party, Mr Thackeray announced that he would visit Ayodhya on November 24 to offer his prayers.
“I had visited Ayodhya on November 24 last year and offered prayers. I also participated in ‘aarti’ on the banks of river Sarayu there. I had then taken along with me soil from the Shivneri fort, the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and prayed for a miracle to ensure construction of a Ram temple. I am happy that that miracle happened within a year,” he said.
During the Lok Sabha campaign earlier this year, Mr Thackeray had categorically demanded that a temple should be constructed at the disputed site in Ayodhya. He had also urged the BJP-led Union government to introduce a law to ensure construction of a grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
The Shiv Sena has used Ram Mandir issue in the past to corner its long-time ally BJP.
Mr Thackeray’s Ayodhya visit in November last year was also seen as part of his efforts to put pressure on BJP as the party had failed to resolve the issue politically despite being in power in Uttar Pradesh and Centre.
He said he would visit L.K. Advani, who had undertaken a Rathayatra. The veteran BJP leader has been sidelined in the BJP ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge of the party.
Crediting Mr Advani on Ram Mandir issue, the Sena chief added, “Ram Janmabhoomi movement was a big agitation. Some people are not with us now. Some have lost their lives in the agitation. I salute them all.” Uttar Pradesh and Centre. ation. I salute them all.”
The Shiv Sena ows its electoral success in Maharashtra to the Ram Mandir issue. The party came into nationa limelight in the nineties when its chief Balasaheb Thackeray claimed credit for Babri Masjid demolition. In fact, the party did not even hesitate to shed its original tag of being a pro-Marathi party to become a Hindutva party.
The Shiv Sena organised events like Maha Aartis in nook and corners of the city to keep the issue burning.
The deadly riots, which followed in Mumbai and other parts of the state after the Babri Masjid demolition, further ascertained Sena’s image as a hardline Hindu nationalist party in the country. The party also faced allegations of orchestrating the violence during the riots.
However, the Ram Mandir issue also benefited the Shiv Sena immensely, as it propelled to power in Maharashtra in 1995.
Riding on the wave of a strong religious polarisation that soared after the riots, the Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance won the polls and formed the first truly non-Congress government in Maharashtra.
Since then the party has been aggressively pursuing the issue, in the Parliament as well as outside of it.
“The contribution of Balasaheb in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement is immense,” said Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant, who is also the Union minister of heavy industries and a Member of Parliament from Mumbai South.
“When no one was willing to speak after the Babri Masjid demolition, Balasaheb openly came out to say the he was proud of Shiv Sainiks if they had demolished the Masjid. During the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, he also coined the popular slogan ‘Garv Se Kaho Hum Hindu Hai’. The construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya is a matter of country’s pride,” the Sena’s lone minister at the Centre added.
