Raj Thackeray set to adopt 'Hindavi Swaraj', Shiv Sena announces Uddhav's visit to Ayodhya

A day before the birth anniversary of Balasaheb Thackeray, with the Raj Thackeray-led MNS looking to make a major announcement regarding a shift to a harder brand of 'Hindutva', Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut took to Twitter on Wednesday, January 22, and confirmed Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's visit to Ayodhya. CM Thackeray will be visiting Ayodhya on completing 100 days in power. Earlier, Raut had confirmed that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray would fulfill his promise to visit Ayodhya.

According to Raut, the Chief Minister would be accompanied by Shiv Sena MLAs on the occasion. This would be the Chief Minister's first visit to Ayodhya after the Supreme Court gave its verdict in the land dispute case.

The earlier plan of visiting on Nov 24

On the day the Ayodhya verdict was out, Uddhav Thackeray had held a press conference to welcome it. During the press briefing, he had raised the possibility of visiting Ayodhya on November 24. However, he reportedly put off his visit due to the Shiv Sena’s prolonged negotiation with the NCP and Congress regarding government formation in Maharashtra.  

Read: Nirmohi Akhara chief onboard as MHA sets up dedicated Ayodhya desk

SC's verdict on Ayodhya

Pronouncing the landmark judgment in the Ayodhya dispute case, the Supreme Court on November 9 last year, delivered a unanimous judgment in the title suit of the disputed area awarding it to the Hindu parties for the construction of a temple. The SC directed the Centre to come up with a scheme within three months to set up a trust which will hand over the outer courtyard and inner courtyard of the site for construction of a temple.

Read: Raj Thackeray's MNS targets Uddhav's Sena directly; 'ditch them, they joined maha-khichdi'

Apart from this, the SC stated that an alternate land of five acres will be allotted to Muslims for the liberty of constructing a mosque, either by the central government or the State government, in a suitable and prominent place in Ayodhya. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, while delivering the unanimous judgment, dismissed the claims of the Sunni Central Waqf Board and the Nirmohi Akhara. He also termed that the three-way division of the disputed land by the Allahabad HC in its 2010 verdict is wrong. 

Read: Shiv Sena refutes Congress claim, says no question of it allying with Cong in 2014

Read: NCP-Congress-Sena bickering getting out of hand, CM Uddhav fast-tracks coordination panel