No link with elections, clarified Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis when questioned about his surprise appearance in Ayodhya along with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is on a day-long visit to pay obeisance to Lord Ram at the Ram temple. Uttar Pradesh minister Swatantra Dev Singh also accompanied them.
Mr Fadnavis said he was on his way to Delhi for the BJP's Central Election Committee meeting to finalise candidates for the upcoming Karnataka polls and stopped by to seek blessings from his revered Gods.
This is the first visit of Mr Shinde to Ayodhya after being sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra in June last year.
Thousands of his supporters, called 'Shiv Sainiks', accompanied him in a massive show of strength.
"I am going to Ayodhya for darshan of Lord Ram. We have blessings of Lord Ram that is why 'dhanush-baan' (bow-arrow, elections symbol of Shiv Sena) is with us," Mr Shinde told reporters in Lucknow before leaving for Ayodhya.
The Shiv Sena is planning to highlight Mr Shinde's visit to Ayodhya across the country.
Earlier, Mr Shinde had visited Ayodhya as a Shiv Sena leader on November 25, 2018, a year before the Supreme Court announced the verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute.
He also visited Ayodhya in March 2020 and June last year.
Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, whose Hindutva legacy Mr Shinde claims to be taking forward, wanted to see a grand Ram temple come up in Ayodhya. The Chief Minister's bete noire, Bal Thackeray's son Uddhav Thackeray, had also visited Ayodhya when he became the Chief Minister of the state.
Eknath Shinde had rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray, and walked out of the party with 39 MLAs, accusing him of compromising on Shiv Sena's core ideals of Hindutva. The Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which Uddhav Thackeray had formed along with former rivals Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP, fell after Mr Shinde's exit. The BJP, which had more MLAs than the Eknath Shinde camp of the Shiv Sena, then formed the government with Mr Shinde as Chief Minister and Mr Fadnavis as his deputy.
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