Indefinite shutdown called off in Shirdi after Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray meets people

Ahmednagar: In a major development, the people of Shirdi have called off their indefinite after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with the villagers to discuss the dispute regarding the birthplace of Sai Baba's birthplace. 

On Monday, the villagers met Uddhav Thackeray at Ahmednagar and held talks over the issue after which they agreed to call off bandh and create no hindrance in the 100 crore development project initiated by Maharashtra government for Pathri village in Parbhani.

Thackeray was accompanied by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, Finance Minister Balasaheb Thorat, MP Sadashiv Lokhande, MLA Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Chief Executive Officer of Shirdi Sai Institute, Deepak Mughalikar, who were present in the meeting held at the co-located guest house in Ahmednagar. 

After successfully mediating with the people of Shirdi, Chief Minister said that there should not be any controversy regarding the birthplace and advised the people of Shirdi to maintain reverence.

The protesters had earlier spurned a call by Chief Minister Thackeray and other leaders of the ruling Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress to call off the bandh and threatened to continue till their demand is met.

Shirdi temple is one of the most popular religious destinations in the country. Over a lakh devotees visit it every year. While the rest of the town remained shut, the temple remained open for darshan today.