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Maha CM unlikely to attend 'bhoomi pujan'

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is unlikely to visit Ayodhya for the bhoomi pujan for Ram temple construction there on August 5 owing to the serious COVID-19 situation in the Uttar Pradesh town, senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut indicated on

Monday.

"It is important that the PM is going. The chief minister (Thackeray) can go there anytime, Raut told reporters here while extending good wishes for the

ceremony.

The 'bhoomi pujan' of the Ram temple is scheduled to be held on Wednesday at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Raut reiterated the Shiv Senas contribution in the Ram temple construction campaign, and said the party has given Rs one crore for the purpose of building the

temple.

"The outbreak of COVID-19 in Ayodhya and surrounding areas is a matter of concern...Uttar Pradesh's minister Kamal Rani (Varun) lost life (due to the disease), while three other ministers are infected," Raut said.

"I think as less people as possible should go there and the ceremony there be held. It is important that the PM is going. The chief minister (Thackeray) can go there anytime, the Rajya Sabha member

said.

Meanwhile, Former Union minister Uma Bharti on Monday said she will go for darshan of Lord Ram in Ayodhya after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others leave the venue of the ground-breaking ceremony for Ram temple construction there, in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak.

The 61-year-old senior BJP leader's comments came a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said he tested positive for the Coronavirus.

Bharti was among the leaders of the Ram Janam bhoomi agitation and is an accused in the Babri mosque demolition case.

The ground-breaking ceremony of the Ram temple is scheduled to be held on Wednesday in Ayodhya and is expected to be attended by Prime Minister

Modi.

"I will leave Bhopal today and on the way I might come in contact with a Coronavirus infected person. Taking this into account, I will keep a distance from the place where @narendramodi and hundreds of others will be present," Bharti tweeted in Hindi.

Further, Iqbal Ansari, who was a litigant in the Ayodhya land dispute case, has decided to gift a 'Ram nami' stole and a copy of the Ramcharitmanas to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he attends the bhoomi pujan ceremony for the Ram temple here on

Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defer the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya on Wednesday, saying the occasion is inauspicious.

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