Shiv Sena plays ‘Ayodhya card’ ahead of Raj Thackeray’s relaunch bid

NEW DELHI: The Shiv Sena on Wednesday played the “Ayodhya card” by announcing that chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will visit the city in March to mark the completion of 100 days in power .

The announcement is designed and timed as part of the Shiva Sena’s plan to face Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray’s political relaunch bid on Thursday, the birth anniversary of Bal Thackeray. Raj is supposed to address a rally in Mumbai where he is expected to take a hard Hindutva stand and jibe at Sena’s recent split with BJP to align with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress. Raj is believed to be working on a plan to revive MNS through a possible collaboration with BJP. Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, who has made at least three trips to Ayodhya over the last one month to prepare for the chief minister’s trip, on Wednesday tweeted; “Chalo Ayodhya ! CM #UddhavThackeray will visit Ayodhya on the completion of 100 days in power! @OfficeofUT”.



“We want our alliance leaders to come along too,” Raut told a news agency. When specifically asked whether he wanted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to join the CM, Raut said, “Rahul Gandhi also visits several temples.”

With the Congress central leadership having expressed its desire (post the Supreme Court order) to see the construction of a ‘bhavya Ram temple’ , Thackeray’s Ayodhya visit is expected to cause no heartburn in the Sena-Congress ties. A few months ago, Udhhav Thackeray himself had announced his plan to visit Ayodhya but his November trip had to be cancelled due to security reasons. But Raut announcing the CM’s trip is seen as a way of Sena displaying its attachment to “Ram temple cause", especially at a time when Raj Thackeray is trying to re-lunch his party. Raj is trying to project Sena as the party that “compromised on ideology” by joining NCP-Congress and is trying to project MNS as the party, which is ready to fill the 'ideological vacuum’ .

Having been outmanoeuvred by Sena, the BJP is also now looking at Raj as a future partner despite the MNS chief having launched a blitzkrieg against PM Narendra Modi during the last Lok Sabha and assembly polls.