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Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde will reach Ayodhya today on his maiden visit to the temple town after becoming the 20th chief minister of the state to pay obeisance to Ram Lalla.
Shinde will reach Ayodhya by helicopter from Lucknow airport at around 10.30am, which will land at Ram Katha Park. A large number of Shiv Saniks have already reached Ayodhya on Saturday night by two trains to welcome Shinde.
From the helipad, Shinde will leave for a hotel at the city’s outskirts where he will stay along with other party leaders.
As part of his day-long visit, Shinde will take part in ‘maha aarti’ at Ram Janmabhoomi and will also attend ‘aarti’ on the banks of river Saryu. The Maharashtra CM will also seek blessings of saints at an event to be organised at the Lakshman Tila ground. Champat Rai, general secretary of Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust, will welcome Shinde at the Ram Janmabhoomi and will apprise him about the ongoing construction work of the temple.
The Maharashtra CM will also interact with media persons. Shinde will leave for Lucknow by road where he will meet Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath before leaving for Mumbai.
According to political analysts, Shinde is following the footprints of Shiv Sena patriarch late Bal Thackeray, who had mentored him. Shinde had accompanied his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray on the latter’s two visits to Ayodhya as CM on November 24, 2018 and March 7, 2020. Thackeray’s son Aditya had come to Ayodhya on a solo visit on June 15, 2022.
Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra on July 7, 2022 after toppling the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
“Balasaheb Thackeray’s dream of grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is now becoming a reality. For this, I thank PM Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath,” Shinde told media outside the Lucknow airport. “Ayodhya is an issue of pride and bhakti (devotion) for us,” he added.
Uttar Pradesh jal shakti minister Swatantra Dev Singh received the Maharashtra chief minister at the Lucknow airport, where Shiv Saniks accorded a warm welcome to him.
Ahead of Shinde’s visit, director general of police (DGP) Rajkumar Vishwakarma visited Ayodhya on Saturday and reviewed security at Hanuman Garhi temple and Ram Janmabhoomi.The DGP was accompanied by special DG Prashant Kumar and other senior officials. Later, the DGP inspected Naya Ghat where the Maharashtra CM will attend Saryu aarti.
The Ayodhya police have put in place traffic diversions for Sunday which will remain force till the Maharashtra CM leaves Ayodhya by road on Sunday night.
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