After Congress no to temple invite, Uddhav Sena reiterates plan: will spend Jan 22 at a Ram exile site in Nashik

A day after the Congress declined the invitation extended to its leaders Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for the forthcoming Ram Temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, saying it has become a “BJP-RSS” event, its INDIA alliance partner, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), has also confirmed he would not be going.

Uddhav will instead be at the Kalaram temple in the Nashik district of Maharashtra, believed to have been among the sites where Lord Ram stayed during his exile from Ayodhya. It was also here that Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and Marathi social activist Sane Guruji in 1930 led an agitation to give Dalits access to temples.

A senior Sena (UBT) leader told The Indian Express: “Our decision has already been taken…Our leader will perform an aarti on the banks of Nashik’s Godavari river and visit the Kalaram mandir. On January 23, the birth anniversary of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena (UBT) will organise a camp in Nashik and hold a rally in the evening.”

On January 6, speaking to the media after paying tributes to his mother Meena Thackeray in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park area, Uddhav had first said he would be going to the Kalaram temple on January 22.

“It is a moment of joy as Ram temple is being consecrated on January 22 in Ayodhya after a struggle of over 25-30 years. Hence, on the same day, we will take darshan of Lord Ram at the Kalaram temple in Nashik. This is the same temple for which Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and Sane Guruji had to struggle to allow entry (for Dalits) into the temple, saying Ram belongs to everyone,” Uddhav had said.

Uddhav had also said that he “did not want to get into who has been invited and not or who is going or not going for Ram temple consecration”