Uddhav Thackeray, new Shiv Sena MPs to visit Ayodhya on 16th June

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, accompanied by all the 18 newly-elected Lok Sabha MPs of his party, will visit Ayodhya on June 16 to offer prayers to Lord Ram. This will be Thackeray's second visit to the temple town in Uttar Pradesh in the last seven months and the first after the declaration of the Lok Sabha poll results.

"Uddhav Thackeray will visit Ayodhya on June 16," party's Rajya Sabha MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut tweeted Friday. The party, a BJP ally, had earlier announced Thackeray and the new MPs will visit Ayodhya before the start of the Parliament session to make a fresh pitch for construction of a am temple at the disputed site in the holy city.

A statement issued by the party had said Thackeray will offer prayers to "Ram Lalla" on June 16, a day ahead of beginning of the Parliament session. The Sena chief had visited Ayodhya in November last year and reaffirmed his party's commitment to the construction of a Ram temple. At that time, the Shiv Sena had not announced its pre- poll alliance with the BJP for the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Maharashtra.

The two saffron parties renewed their alliance after the assembly election results in Rajasthan, Chhatisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the three states where the Congress ousted the BJP from power in December.

-PTI