Aaditya Thackeray to visit Ayodhya today, will perform Saryu Aarti

Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray will visit Ayodhya for a day-long pilgrimage. There he is expected to perform an arti on the banks of the Saryu River.

Also, a team of Shiv Sena leaders led by Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut has been in Ayodhya since Monday to review the preparations for Thackeray’s third visit to the town. 

The visit comes after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (NNS) criticized Shiv Sena for “abandoning Hindutva”.

Aditya’s Ayodhya visit is considered to be of high significance as it reinforces the Shiv Sena Hindutva ideology. The visit also marks the first solo visit of the 32-year-old leader who is seen as the next big leader of the party.

Raj Thackeray had announced that he will pay a visit to the temple town. But his plan to visit faced strong objection from the BJP because of MNS’ alleged anti-North Indians stand.