Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut criticised BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for accompanying Shiv Sena leader and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to Ayodhya. Mr. Raut claimed that BJP never came with their party when they visited Ayodhya in the past and accused them of running away during the Babri incident.
“We have also visited Ayodhya several times… But BJP never came with our party. When Babri incident happened they just ran away,” he said.
Mr. Raut also questioned Mr. Shinde and Mr. Fadnavis’s decision to visit Ayodhya, despite the ongoing problems faced by farmers in Maharashtra due to rain and hailstorms. “Will Lord Ram bless them if they ignore farmers’ problems in Maharashtra and stay there? They are copying us. Public knows who is original and duplicate,” the Rajya Sabha member said.
On Sunday morning, Mr. Shinde, Mr. Fadnavis along with a battery of leaders from both the parties visited Shri Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.
Nationalist Congress Party chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase criticised the Shinde-Fadnavis government for “forgetting its constitutional duty especially when farmers are in distress in the State.”
“For the past few days, agriculture produce has been largely damaged in many parts of Maharashtra due to unseasonal rains and hailstorm, and the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, other ministers, MLAs, party karyakarta have gone to Ayodhya leaving behind the distressed farmer with no recource,” he alleged.
“If this trip was for personal spiritual reasons Mr Shinde would have gone alone and the people of the state would have understood, but taking the cabinet, MLAs, MPs and party supporters clearly indicated that the Shinde faction wants to make political statement from Ayodhya,” Mr. Tapase said.
Even the Congress party criticised Mr. Shinde’s visit to Ayodhya.
