Parted ways with BJP, but not with Hindutva: CM Uddhav Thackeray
AYODHYA (UP): Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray today announced that his government, which is in alliance with the ideologically different Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, will give Rs 1 crore to help in the construction of a temple to Lord Ram in Ayodhya.
CM Uddhav Thackeray, who arrived in Ayodhya on Saturday to offer prayers marking 100 days of him taking charge of the CM’s office said that he would be contributing Rs 1 crore towards the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and requested the members of the trust to accept it.
He added “Today, I want to announce that not from the state government, but from my trust, I offer an amount of Rs. 1 crore,” Thackeray said, adding that the days of constant doubt about whether and when the Ram Mandir would be constructed were now in the past.
Mr Thackeray said that his visit was in order to seek blessings of Ram Lalla. “I have with me today several members of my ‘Bhagwa’ family. It is my third visit in last 1.5 years. I will also offer prayers today,” he said.
Thackeray also said that he may have parted ways with BJP, but not with Hindutva, going on to say that BJP and Hindutva are separate. Uddhav Thackeray’s statement comes just months after Shiv Sena ended its alliance with the BJP and joined hands with the Congress and Sharad Pawar led NCP.
Since ending its long term ties with the BJP, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has made multiple comments about how different his idea of Hindutva is from that of the BJP. In February 2020, Thackeray took a veiled dig at the former ally by claiming that using religion to grab power is not his version of Hindutva.
“We don’t have the same thought process. I don’t want a Hindu Rashtra which is not peaceful. Using religion and grabbing power is not my Hindutva.”Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra CM, as reported by India Today
Accompanied by his son and state minister Aditya and wife Rashmi Thackeray, the CM also said that everyone would build the Ram Mandir together and that it should be a good temple .
(Bureau REport with Agency Inputs ).
