Lucknow : Maharashtra Minister Aditya Thackeray on Wednesday arrived in Lucknow to visit Ayodhya to offer his prayers at the Ram Temple site. "When we came for the 1st time in 2018, we said 'pehle mandir, phir sarkaar'... I'll offer prayers and receive blessings... the land is not political, it's the land of 'Ram Rajya'," Thackeray told media persons. Meanwhile, earlier Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has said that Aaditya Thackeray's Ayodhya visit is "not a political programme".
Aditya Thackeray's visit comes as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (NNS) had criticised Shiv Sena for "abandoning Hindutva". Shiv Sena formed the government in Maharashtra in alliance with Congress and Nationalist Congress Party after ending a decades-old alliance with the BJP. Raj Thackeray was also scheduled to visit Ayodhya this month but the visit was cancelled for some reasons.